A Baby or a Monster?
by kittyface27
Summary: When a three year old Luffy stows away on a powerful pirate ship, his life and the Whitebeards takes an interesting turn. But what happens when his new daddy and uncles find out the secret Luffy didn't even know was keeping? Fluff and drama.
1. An Unexpected Stow Away

**I finally finished one of my fics! Another Whitebeard pirates and child Luffy story. But I guarantee you that you've never read a Luffy on Whitebeard Pirates story like this one. Please R & R! Enjoy~**

"Luffy! Where the hell did you go?!" Luffy's grandpa shouted. He didn't seem very enthusiastic about their game of hide and seek. But Luffy was good at hiding. He had been with his grandpa on a boring navy ship for a long time. Nothing had been interesting and no one would talk or interact with him for fear of his grandpa. And it wasn't nice sleeping there.

So the minute the boat had docked, Luffy burst onto the mini deck of the marine ship that was waiting out further in the water, and ran down the slope at the walkway and onto the docks, racing between feet and legs. He was small enough not to irritate anyone he hit on his fleeing. There were many people and ships, but no one yelled at him. No one really yells at a three year old kid. Unless they were his grandpa of course.

Garp had followed him off the ship, far behind Luffy, though he would be easy to catch up to since his legs were so small, even if he was fast. So his game of tag turned into a game of hide and seek as he hid behind crates and boxes that pirates were carrying onto their ships.

Garp came into view, so Luffy, determined not to lose their game, climbed into a half empty barrel, ducking his head down and giggling madly as he heard his grandpa race passed him, still shouting Luffy's name. Luffy flattened himself even more so that the shadows hid him in his barrel, which appeared to be housing a ton of apples.

Then everything went dark, and Luffy _knew _that he had won the game. Grandpa would never find him! Especially now that someone was carrying the barrel Luffy was still in. He quieted his giggles, not wanting to give away his position. But he became surprised, not afraid, when he heard many people talking and laughing as his barrel was lugged around the ship he was now accidentally aboard.

But soon the plethora of voices faded and Luffy was set in a quiet room. There was a round window, which brought light into the storage room. Luffy popped the lid off of the barrel of apples and looked around. It was a new place! He climbed out of the wooden barrel and fell on his butt on the hardwood floor. He giggled.

Luffy went around the room, inspecting his surroundings. He was not afraid, just interested and curious. So he started opening the lids of the barrels and boxes, amazed to find _so much food! _He wasted no time in gorging on all the different types of foods. Fruits, candy, bread, dried meat, along with many more. He ate until he was so full anymore might make him throw it all back up. The storage room was in disarray. A complete mess of half eaten foods, some raw meat that was not meant to be opened yet.

Luffy pat his full belly and looked around the room for any exits. Grandpa might find him in here. It was time to move on. To explore!

He came across a door that was opposite the one he knew he'd come in from. But the handle was too high. He thought for awhile, his face becoming red, before he had the idea to move a crate over and step on that to open the mystery door. He made sure the stuff his shorts pockets with two apples to eat later.

Luffy walked through the now open doorway and down a dark hall. Luffy may be three, but he wasn't afraid of the dark. Wasn't afraid of much, actually. He wandered down the empty hallway, peeking into doors by jumping for the handles. He found a wide variety of rooms. Bedrooms, bathrooms, a library, a big wide room with strange contraptions in it. It was a big place, and he had lots of space to explore.

Luffy could gently feel the waves rock the ship he was on. He wasn't bothered by this. He liked being on the ocean! But it was very quiet in the hallway. So the boy decided to make his own noises, and began to sing about pineapples.

His voice echoed through the long and deserted hallway, but Luffy liked the sound of it. He continued to open doors and sing to himself until he reached a staircase. Luffy was very small, even for his age, so he knew that he would be unable to climb the stairs easily. Grandpa was usually there to help him. Where was he? Did he give up on the game?

"_Oh well," _Luffy thought. He did find a ladder down into another room by the stairs, and since that was the only way to explore more, he climbed down the wooden ladder, falling off on the last two rungs. But it didn't hurt and he just stood up and looked around.

There were a bunch of pretty bottles. All very shiny, in their own wooden slots. Luffy had seen grandpa drink some of these, but he was never allowed to taste. Now would be the best chance! Luffy yanked out the closest bottle, trying to undo the lid. He was unable to open it with his little hands or teeth without hurting. So he slammed it onto the ground, thinking the top would come off.

"It broke!" Luffy gasped in horror. Grandpa would be so mad! So Luffy fled the scene, unable to even taste the liquid now sliding across the deck of the winery and alcohol storage. He was able to climb up back to the floor above, fleeing as far from the scene as he could. Now he had no choice but to climb the stairs.

He could do it! He'd prove grandpa wrong. He was a strong boy already. He didn't need hard training to be tough. He was already strong! So he very slowly climbed the stairs, taking each step slowly, as if he were climbing a mountain. He sounded incredibly loud going up the wooden stairs, but he wasn't bothered by it. There was no one around anyways.

He made his way down another very long hall, opening the doors and looking inside each one. Most of these were bedrooms, with bunk beds or even swinging nets that he wished he could get to. But they were much too tall for little Luffy to reach. Well, onto the next room.

But he became hungry again, even after eating his two on the go snacks. His stomach growled as he opened a door to a room with a single big bed and a large desk. And on the table next to it was a pretty, blue-purple fruit with swirls. It looked yummy! So he hopped up and brought down the fruit before taking a big bite of it. He immediately threw the nasty fruit away and tried wiping the bad taste off of his tongue with his shirt. That was nasty! Now he needed to find something to get rid of that taste.

So he wandered on, in search of food once again. Hopefully something yummy.

The cook of the Whitebeard Pirates was going to start unloading the food in the storage and into the kitchen to start to prepare dinner. And what he saw in the storage room shocked him. The room was a complete and total _mess. _Food was everywhere. It looked like some sort of wild animal had gotten in and had a party with a tornado. What the hell happened in here?!

He quickly put the foods back where they should be, which were much less than they had been when the ship was still docked. He'd need to go somewhere to buy more food! Damn that stupid animal! He was going to find it and cook it himself.

Thatch followed the open door and into the lower hallway. Now he was very confused. Almost all of the doors were wide open, and there was a apple core just sitting in the middle of the hallway. Thatch began to have irrational thoughts of ghosts and demons getting onto the ship.

But he had to know what the hell was doing this, and turned his stupid fears away to follow the disarray left behind. He saw the light on from the wine cellar and peeked his head inside to see a single smashed glass of liquor. But there was no creature or ghost inside the room. So he climbed the stairs.

Whatever had gotten loose on the ship had made its way down this hall as well, where many doors were open wide. Even his bedroom door. Thatch ran to it and looked inside to see no mess. But when he turned the light on, he saw the fruit he'd found that morning laying on the floor. There was a big bite out of it. He sighed, wondering what animal had eaten the Devil Fruit. He didn't want it in the first place, but he couldn't imagine an animal eating something like that.

Then the cook heard a crashing sound from down the hallway and hurried into the most recent open door. He turned the light on to see a very small child trying to climb up the side of the bunk bed.

Before Thatch had any thought about the sudden toddler, the boy fell backwards off the bed frame. Thatch moved instantly and caught him.

"I win!" the kid shouted, and erupted into giggles. Luffy was finally caught, but not by grandpa.

Thatch stared at him for a moment, before holding him more securely and walking quickly down the hall and to where Whitebeard probably was on deck in his massive chair. The boy wriggled in Thatch's grip and tried to climb over his shoulder.

"Don't do that, you might fall," Thatch warned gently. He honestly hadnt been around a child in a very long time, and he was happy to see one again. Despite him ransacking all the food and eating the Devil Fruit.

"Nice guy!" Luffy cheered, looking over Thatch's shoulder. "How many rooms?" he wondered as they passed more doors before climbing down the stairs Luffy had come from.

"Hundreds of rooms," Thatch said, smiling when the little boy "wow!"ed. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Luffy!"

"And what are you doing here, Luffy?" Thatch asked, wondering once again how this little boy snuck onto the ship.

"I play hide an seek wif grandpa an I hide in apples! Den I here in dis big house!" Luffy explained enthusiastically. So, he was in the barrel of apples. Man, how did no one notice him? "I win! He not find me, so I win," Luffy finished just as Thatch opened the door into the sunlight. He made a beeline straight to his father and captain, not saying anything for a moment but holding Luffy out in arms reach right in front of the big man.

"We have a problem." Luffy giggled.

"Explain, son," Whitebeard said after he got over the brief shock of seeing a toddler right in front of him on the Moby. How did he even get on? A crowd had gathered around the two when Luffy became noticed.

"Apparently, Luffy was playing hide and seek and hid in the barrel of apples. He was put in the storage room, which it a complete mess now. He's ransacked all the food, along with the Devil Fruit that was in my bedroom." Thatch sighed. "Though I don't think he meant to do any bad." He held Luffy facing him and asked the boy how old he was. He responded by holding three fingers up.

"I don't think he meant any harm or inconvenience. He was just hungry. He did a lot of exploring today." Luffy nodded in agreement.

Whitebeard looked both concerned and amused. "What were you doing in the barrel of apples, Luffy?" he asked in a friendly voice.

"Hide an seek wif granpa," Luffy chirped.

"What is your grandpa's name?"

"Hmmm… Garp?" Luffy asked, unsure. His name was grandpa, except to other people. Everyone went quiet. Luffy was asked his last name, and he happily exclaimed, "Monkey!" He had a fun last name.

"We have an vice admiral's child on our ship?!" someone from the crowd shouted. Others followed. Luffy just stayed in Thatch's arms and looked around at the pretty scenery of the sea. "Let's take him back!" a pirate shouted, many voices in agreement following.

"Well, we can't go back. The island is swarming with marines that know we're here now. We'll have to wait for awhile and then somehow contact someone higher up. Or we could just drop him off at the next inhabited island, but I'd rather bring him back to his family, yoi," Marco said. The commanders agreed, knowing they could defend themselves, so it wasn't a huge problem to take Luffy back.

No one noticed the big man standing behind the crowd looking at the kid like he wanted to murder him. Which he did. That little shit took away what he'd been looking for for decades. He would pay.

Luffy ate dinner with the rest of the crew at the commander's table, sitting in Thatch's lap, which he offered. Luffy didn't have a problem with it, and Thatch found himself favoring the kid, though he had made dinner difficult. But there was still much food left over, though Ace wouldn't be having four servings for a little while. He'd have to deal with two.

Everyone but Thatch were surprised with how much food Luffy could pack away. Thatch wasn't surprised because he'd seen first hand how much Luffy had eaten from the storage room. Luffy pat his full tummy with a smile. The food here was yummier than at the ship he was on with grandpa.

He voiced that, making Thatch smile and thank him. Ace did not like Luffy. He had never been good with kids, and Luffy was very energetic and loud. Well, he didn't dislike him, he just didn't like him. If that made sense. So he wouldn't exactly be an active role during however long Luffy was staying.

Still, not many noticed Teach glaring at his food angrily. No one asked him what was wrong because that look told them he was feeling very volatile at the moment for some reason.

Luffy was able to stay up until it got dark outside and many of the pirates went to bed. He sat in the kitchen and drew with a pencil on a piece of paper while Thatch cleaned up since Luffy would be staying with him for the night. Luffy began to hum his own song at the table while kicking his short legs off the edge of his chair.

Thatch smiled at him, wondering what his life had been like with the marines. Surely not as fun as their dinner had been. Loud and full of laughter. Even if Luffy didn't know what was funny, when those around him laughed, he began to laugh as well.

"Sach! When we goin' to sleep?" Luffy called from the table.

"In a few minutes, Luffy," Thatch replied, washing the last of the dishes and wiping the counter. Any sort of mess he woke up to to cook wasn't the best start of the day, so he cleaned meticulously after dinner. "Alright, time for bed," Thatch said and picked Luffy up, who grinned sleepily.

A mattress had been put on the floor in Thatch's room for Luffy, with sheets, a blanket and a bare pillow. It was pretty comfortable, and Luffy soon fell asleep, as did Thatch not long after, wondering when they would be able to reunite Luffy and his vice admiral grandpa.

Thatch woke to a strange feeling in his head, like something was missing. He woke up, opening his eyes slowly to see Luffy was gone from his bed, the door open. Thatch immediately got up and hurried down the hall to the bathrooms, and when there was no Luffy, he hurried to the kitchen, with no Luffy either.

He reached out his haki to try and sense the little one, but found nothing matching Luffy. Only lots of men sleeping. But he did feel something like an animal of some sorts out on deck. That wouldn't be Luffy, yet he ran out onto deck anyways. He hurried to the corner of the part of the cabin raised above the deck only to quickly pull his head back and stand still and quiet against the wall.

_What the hell is that?_ he thought as he processed whatever the thing on deck was. It looked maybe only a little over two feet long, was pale purple, and was covered in plate-like scales and blunt horns. What was weirdest about it was the number of legs it had. 6 legs… on each side.

It looked freaky, even to Thatch. Some kind of monster got onto their ship. Then his eyes widened. What if this thing ate Luffy, and that's why he couldn't feel or find the little boy anywhere?! Horror dawned on Thatch's face. He wanted to hurry out and kill that thing for eating the little boy Thatch had become fond of. But he didn't know what the monster was capable of or even what it was.

He slid down the wall silently, still peeping at the thing every few seconds, making sure it didn't move. But he didn't know what to do. For some reason, he thought killing it like that, while it was sleeping, was a bad thing to do. He had no idea why he thought that.

Around an hour after Thatch had sat there keeping watch on the strange creature, he heard noise. He peeked one eye around the corner to see the monster clumsily climbing up the side of the cabin to the roof of it, where Thatch couldn't see it. He took a deep breath, unable to hear it moving around. He didn't like not being able to see it.

Thatch soon felt something wet hit his forehead, and looked up to see the monster's head peeking over the edge of the roof down at him. Drool dripped on Thatch, which was disgusting. He didn't move but his eyes widened when the creature jumped off the top of the cabin and landed next to the man with a heavy thud. He froze in fear.

Thatch kept extremely still while the monster sniffed him, starting at his head to his waist. It was behaving much different than Thatch assumed it would. He furrowed his brows when the thing began to lick him, over and over, with a long, rough tongue. And when Thatch saw the inside of the monster's mouth, he saw the teeth were short and thin, and the tips rounded. It's eyes were also very big. His little horns were also short and rounded as well.

Whatever creature this was, it was clearly a baby. And Thatch did not fear it anymore. It was heavy as it crawled into Thatch's lap, though it didn't fit well. It was just the thing's head and longer neck while it's twelve short legs folded under itself like a cat.

While it was asleep, Thatch felt it's plated scales, which were not as hard as they had looked. They bent a little bit when he pushed them down, like plastic. More proof that this was a baby. But he didn't know what it would do if Thatch got up and left. There was still the missing Luffy. Yet, he had a feeling Luffy was just fine, and that he somehow recognized the creature sleeping in his lap.

He stayed awake the rest of the night, not moving much under the thing's body. He hoped no one came out, because he was against the wall close to the first door. If anyone came out, he'd be seen, as well as the sleeping creature who he had a feeling wouldn't hurt anyone. But, he didn't know that for sure. Even so, Thatch had always had a good intuition.

The man was looking out at the sea as the stars began to dim and the sky got lighter. Thatch felt the creature stir and open its big brown eyes. Then it suddenly got up and walked away, slowly, since it was sleepy. Thatch followed behind it while it turned the corner and tried to stuff itself in between barrels. Of course, it was much too big to fit.p

As the creature began to change shape, Thatch's mouth dropped open as the missing three year old fell forward onto the deck, naked and asleep, but looking perfectly fine. He had a feeling Luffy had been living with the marines for a reason other than being related to a vice admiral.

**Disclaimer: I have never had a child or little sibling, so the vocabulary for Luffy might be too advanced for his age, I'm not sure. **

**Also, since I have never had a kid or anything, some behaviors, mental or physical, might be off. **

**There may be text errors. It happens to everyone.**

**Review!**

Update: reviews are always welcomed, but if you are going to leave one, please do not be cruel or hurtful in them. Please don't message me about how it sucks. It's very hurtful and makes me just want to disable them. Anyways please continue the story if you are interested. If not, please just stop reading. Thanks.

**Update 1 year later: So, again, it seems I have to say that Luffy has mistakes. I didn't know that much about young children when I wrote this. Please, ignore the fact he can't walk up stairs. It's not a big problem in the story. And fanfictions have false information all the time. This is minor, please ignore it. It's unnecessary to just comment on that, especially when I've put multiple warnings about it. But here's another one. Thanks. **


	2. Getting Used to Monster Luffy

**Here is the next chapter! Ace is not a main character in this story, it's actually mostly Thatch. And I did not make Luffy's monster up. It's a real mythical creature. If you figure it out, don't spoil it please! Enjoy~**

Thatch gathered himself and picked up the little boy gently to bring him to their room. Thatch hadnt had any sleep last night, so he'd try his best to get some. When he reached his room, he saw what he hadnt before. Luffy's clothes were in tatters on the mattress, meaning he'd changed in the room and walked through the ship in that monster form. If anyone else had seen him, Thatch had no doubt someone would have ended up dead or wounded.

Plus, monster Luffy seemed to have recognized and liked Thatch. He might not have reacted that way with anyone other than Thatch. He couldn't let anyone know about it. This would be his and Luffy's secret, if the kid even knew about it. If he turned into that form every night, Thatch would need to start locking the door or just going outside with Luffy. He'd at least leave the window open, since he was on one of the upper floors, though the room would become cold.

Luffy had no clothes to wear, so he put him on his mattress under the covers. He'd do something about the clothes later that day.

Luffy woke up naked, though it wasn't uncommon to wake up with no clothes, and saw that Thatch was still sleeping. And Luffy was hungry. He hurried over to the sleeping man he liked and poked his shoulder.

"Sach! Sach, I hungry," Luffy said to Thatch, who was slowly coming to. His eyes opened all the way when he saw Luffy acting completely normal. It was time for questions.

After Thatch got dressed and put one of his smallest shirts on Luffy, which was much too big but covered him up, Thatch said he wanted to ask Luffy some questions.

"Do you remember what happened last night? After you fell asleep?" Luffy cocked his head in confusion. This answered the question. Luffy had no clue. "Next question. How did you sleep at your own home? Did you have a bed and a room?"

Luffy shook his head. "Is a cage," he said simply, like it was completely normal to have to sleep in a cage. Thatch sighed.

"How else did they treat you?"

"During da day, dey were nice to me. On'y at night dey stick me in da cage." Luffy sounded like he'd been very used to that treatment. "I glad I could sleep in bed here," he said happily. Though he didn't sleep in his bed at all last night. Instead he slept on the cold, hard deck outside. "C'n we go eat now?"

"Yeah, we can go eat. Make sure to keep the shirt all the way on, okay?" Thatch asked as he walked with Luffy, the boy holding onto Thatch's pant leg.

"I always wake up wif rip cloves. I not know why…" Luffy said lightly. "But dere is always more cloves for me."

Luffy was sat on the chair he used at the closest table as Thatch cooked breakfast. The little boy was drawing squiggles on his pad of note paper Thatch had stolen from Marco's office. To Luffy, he was drawing Thatch, his favorite person, even more than grandpa! He called Thatch over to come see something real quick, and presented his squiggly doodle to Thatch.

"Is you!" Luffy said, putting the drawing into Thatch's hands. The man smiled, and made a show of putting it on the fridge with a magnet, making Luffy giggle in happiness. "I draw big man nest!"

Luffy was first to get his breakfast, and ate whatever he wanted, though Thatch had him stop at three large servings so they had enough for the others plus Ace. As the room filled, people talked loudly as Luffy continued to draw. The commanders sat down at the main table with Luffy and soon Thatch after he had served the food to the tables. It was loud mayhem as the crew members ate and fought for food. But Luffy paid no attention to the noise. The noises of happy people were nice, unlike the silence at the navy base or ship he'd lived with grandpa on.

Where was grandpa? he wondered. But his mind was taken off that subject when Thatch put his big hand on the back of Luffy's neck in a comforting gesture, though Luffy wasn't upset.

"We should try and call Garp sometime today to return the little brat. I'm sure it'd-" but Whitebeard was cut off, something that never happened, by Thatch, who had started to sweat in nervousness.

"I don't think we should take him back," Thatch said with a surprisingly even voice. Luffy continued to draw. Before the others asked why, he said, "Luffy told me he was kept in a cage, though he doesn't know why." It was true. Luffy didn't know why and he did tell Thatch that. He was only just omitting the reason why little Luffy was caged.

The others frowned. Marco narrowed his eyes at Thatch, suspicious. Why, he didn't know. Something was just off.

"I'll take care of him," Thatch insisted. "I've always wanted to be a dad, and with Luffy here I can both be a dad and a pirate." _There. They can't say no to something like that._ And he was right, no one rejected the idea of Luffy staying anymore.

No one said anything about Teach's anger for awhile, back again. Finally, someone asked him about it. His reply was a snappy, "I just don't like kids and I want that brat gone." It surprised the others at the table, but they dropped the topic and resumed the conversations they'd been having before a grumpy Teach replied.

Luffy followed Thatch around all day, though Thatch couldn't say he didn't enjoy it. Luffy was like a little ball of sunshine, though he napped a lot. That had been stressful for Thatch, since he didn't know how Luffy's transformations worked. Did it happen every time he slept? Or was it just something that had to do with night? Well, he'd find out, hopefully in private where no one could see.

Multiple pairs of clothes had been quickly sewn for him, and when the man was asked where his Luffy's original clothes were, Thatch just rambled on about how weak children's clothes were these days until everyone just dropped it and he didn't need to answer.

Luffy got special privileges when it came to food, since Thatch couldn't resist the cuteness or refuse what Luffy asked. He was just too cute, and Thatch wanted to take good care of him. As best as he could on a pirate ship.

Luffy was given some figurines and large chess pieces to play with that kept him busy at the corner closest to where Thatch was at all times. And he had a lot of fun with the pathetic toys. Eventually, as Thatch waited for the meat for that day's lunch to cook, he sat down and played with Luffy as well.

Izou was the one to walk in to the galley and saw Thatch sitting with his freshly claimed son, playing with makeshift "toys". He wished he had a camera, but all he did was find Marco and bring him there. Thatch was still playing with Luffy, too distracted with him to know two people were not so far from him.

After the oven turned off with a click, Thatch picked up Luffy to walk to the kitchen and let Luffy taste test the food once it had cooled a bit. "Yum!" Luff exclaimed, though he seemed to do that for all food. But it encouraged Thatch to keep making that food.

When dinner was served, Luffy ate everything he could reach once again. The commanders sitting around him and Thatch had to act quickly, so it became a free for all of pirates trying to get food before Luffy scarfed it down.

Nobody noticed Thatch was feeling nervous. Did Luffy transform every night? How did he sleep? When did he turn back? When would he transform? As soon as the sun goes down? Many thoughts bounced around in Thatch's head.

After dinner, Luffy was clearly close to falling asleep, so Thatch quickly cleaned up, faster than he usually did, and picked Luffy up for them to go to bed. Much of the crew had left already, and all that was left at the table was Marco and Whitebeard. Marco narrowed his eyes at the nervous expression on Thatch's face as he hurried out of the big room.

Thatch had no idea what time Luffy changed, and the boy had already fallen asleep with his thumb in his mouth. When they did reach the bedroom, Thatch quickly undressed Luffy and put him in a large T-shirt of Thatch's, so he hopefully won't rip this one. He slowly laid Luffy's small body onto his mattress and locked the bedroom door. He made sure to open the window in case monster Luffy did not like being in a stuffy room. After all, he'd left the room last night.

Thatch watched and made sure to look at the clock when Luffy's body started warping under the covers, growing larger and skinnier. It was 9:30. Thatch was about to go to bed, half an hour after Luffy's change, when the monster boy woke up. When it yawned, there was a very quiet screechy noise, like a young girl with a sore throat. Thatch watched him, somewhat nervously, as it stood up and turned its big eyes to Thatch on his large bed.

Monster Luffy walked up to him, moving surprisingly fluidly for something with 12 legs, and crawled up onto the bed next to Thatch and curled up, looking at the man with sleepy and droopy eyes. Thatch smiled and, completely comfortable with monster Luffy next to him, pulled the covers over himself and went to bed.

But he was woken up not much later when a heavy body draped itself over his chest. It was very heavy and hard, but Thatch wasn't weak, so it didn't hurt or anything. Then he heard a sort of constant clicking noise from the creature on top of his chest. Monster Luffy was purring. Even though he looked scary at first, once he saw what he acted like, he was far from scary. Thatch would even say he was cute. He wondered what the rest of the crew would think.

The man fell asleep to the constant and quiet purring. He'd do some research and search through the whole library for _anything _about what Luffy is or what was happening to him.

It was early morning when Thatch felt the weight of the monster Luffy disappear and soon turn into something very light. The man opened his eyes to see the lightening sky and Luffy's very small body resting against Thatch's chest. The shirt had survived!

Thatch picked human Luffy up and tucked him into his own bed. Then Thatch realized that he had to get up and go cook breakfast, and he couldn't leave Luffy unsupervised. He looked around before picking up his big pillow and, after dressing Luffy in his own clothes, gently put the boy in the pillow case, resting on the pillow, like a little cocoon. Luffy didn't stir.

Thatch carried him gently to the kitchen and set the pillow down in the corner Luffy's toys were, in sight of Thatch of course. The cook tried to be quiet with his cooking, but Luffy woke up anyway. Not from the noise, but the smell.

"Eh?" he voiced sleepily, before sniffing more and pulling himself out of his little bed and calling Thatch's name, asking what was for breakfast.

"Everything. Like usual. The other cooks will be here soon. Why don't you take your toys to the table?" Luffy nodded and gathered all of his mismatched toys and bustled over to the table. Thatch walked over and lifted Luffy to his chair, sitting on the stack of books.

Thatch spent much of the day in the library, where Luffy was looking at cook books with diagrams of types of fish and animals. It was the closest to a child's picture book that they had. On the next island they were going to, they were going shopping for all things Luffy.

Thatch found nothing helpful. _Nothing._ Not even any type of fantasy book. It seemed like they had everything _but _that. He sighed, wondering once again what Luffy was. Besides being Luffy of course. What his other appearance was. Some sort of creature _like _a dragon, but clearly not. He walked over to Luffy, who was napping on a recliner in the room, and just stared at him. It was so hard to think that this little kid turned into something that would make grown men go running at a first glance. Thatch sighed. Well, even if he would never find out what Luffy was, Thatch didn't think anything bad of him.

He didn't go to the library looking for some sort of cure, just an explanation. He had so many questions, but if they couldn't be answered, sobeit.

Luffy woke up slowly with Thatch looking at him. "Hi, Sach," Luffy said sleepily. "When is food?" Thatch chuckled. It was as if Luffy was destined to be with Thatch, a chef, when the boy had a massive appetite. Thatch could cook Luffy anything he wanted. They just fit like that.

"Not for awhile. Do you want me to read to you?"

"Yah!" Luffy cheered in response, following Thatch to the middle of the room where he sat down on the nice carpet. Luffy sat in his lap, so much tinier than Thatch was, and listened to his guardian read about a whale that lived in the sea.

Thatch was determined to keep Luffy's other side a secret, because he didn't want him to be treated any differently. He could see some of the commanders and the captain accepting him, but everyone else? Not so much. They had barely all accepted a fishman to the crew, what would they think of a baby monster? That's why the man wanted to keep it a secret, which would be easy since even Luffy didn't know.

But, Luffy was making it extremely difficult to not be caught. While the boy in his human form was very well-behaved and never threw tantrums, the same couldn't be said for his beast side. When Luffy didn't get what he wanted, to go outside, he'd screech and bang his thick tail on the floorboards of his and Thatch's room.

The first incident of bad behavior came up, it was when Ace knocked on the door late at night while Thatch was sleeping with monster Luffy on the bed. Ace had spilled some food in the kitchen and wanted to ask what to clean it up with.

When Thatch gently got off the bed, removing Luffy from his chest, the beast followed after him towards the door. Then he grabbed onto Thatch's pant leg with three of his sets of legs, flopping down onto the floor and making it difficult for Thatch to head to the door.

"Luffy, let go!" he whispered as the knocking on the door got louder and more insistent. Luffy had huffed and let go, walking back to the bed and stretching out to attempt to make most of the space on the mattress his. But, when Thatch nervously opened the door, Luffy stayed out of sight from the doorway.

When Ace left, and Thatch locked the door, he glared at Luffy, who was pretending to sleep. Even as a beast, he sucked at lying, which was actually pretty entertaining.

"Alright, I'm back. Move over," Thatch mumbled, lying down on the bed after Luffy rolled to the side. He immediately got back on Thatch to sleep some more.

Another incident was late at night when monster Luffy was drinking water from the bowl Thatch had put in there, and Luffy heard someone passing out in the hall. He looked at the door curiously and began to bang his tail against it, since it was locked. He wanted out to go play!

Thatch shushed him and scooped the creature up in his arms. "No, Luffy! No doing that. Bad boy," Thatch scolded lightly, making Luffy whine in anger or hurt, Thatch didnt know. The man force Luffy back on the bed and kept his arm draped over his hard side.

Luffy had huffed, but went back to bed.

**Once again, I know I will get things wrong with Luffy's behavior. But it's just a fanfiction. It's not hurting anything to have some facts ****inaccurate****. Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Mistakes and Misunderstandings

**Another chapter! I know it's sometimes hard to picture something in a book/story than in a movie or real life. If you are having trouble in picturing what Monster Luffy looks like, look here - **** search?q=behir&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWh_ywpfTgAhX9CDQIHfKOAoMQ_AUIDigB&biw=1242&bih=568**

**If you would rather just picture it yourself, then imagine away! There are many different versions of the mythical creature, so use your own or whatever one you found that you like. **

**yoji Mochizuki: I do wonder what your review saying "huh." meant. I'm curious to know if it was a negative review, or a positive one. It was quite hard to tell.**

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**P.S: I am so grateful for having over 360 views in one day! And more followers than I got in a whole 77,000+ word story! I'm glad this story is getting some attention. Thanks!**

**Enjoy~**

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Someone on the ship was constantly angry. And that was Teach. For the last a little over a week, he'd been unable to get Luffy on his own. Luffy was always with Thatch. And for some reason, Thatch didn't seem to like others getting too close to the boy. He was very protective, and spoiled the kid.

And Luffy behaved much better than you'd think a three year old would. There were no time-outs that Teach could tempt him with candy. And if Thatch wasn't there, Marco or Izo were. Luffy was always with someone doing something. Teach hated the little shit. He stole the Devil Fruit Teach had been looking for for decades, and he took up a lot of attention, and not to mention food. Because Thatch couldn't say no to the kids monster stomach, Teach didn't have his never ending supply of cherry pies.

It became even harder after all eyes were on Luffy ever since he'd switched from "Sach" to "daddy". He just had too much attention for Teach to tempt him away. Each day he grew more and more impatient. He had no reason to stay with this crew anymore. There was very little chance of killing Luffy, getting away with it, and then finding the fruit again while still being a member of the Whitebeards. He'd be best off to kill Luffy, escape and find the fruit on his own.

It was two weeks after Luffy hid in the apple barrel, and nothing had happened. Though Luffy could be cranky at night, Thatch was able to calm him down by threatening to limit the snuggles. Monster Luffy had narrowed his big eyes at that and flopped down on his side, defiant. Thatch was just so tired and it was hard staying asleep all night with Luffy shifting on the bed and drooling on Thatch even through his shirt.

But, even while monster Luffy was difficult sometimes, it didn't stop his affection for him. He was glad that human Luffy didn't misbehave. He could deal with the monster, but innocent little Luffy would look wrong misbehaving.

Luffy stood next to Thatch at their first island since Luffy's arrival. He was wearing a heavy coat and warm clothes with a beanie to keep him warm on the winter island. His nose and cheeks were already pink from the cold air's bite. He had a rope tied to his waist and attached to Thatch's side. He wanted to make sure Luffy couldn't wander away or go missing. That would be terrible. Especially if he ever got lost at night, and he was stuck to wander around, or worse, in his monster form, where he seemed to not have memory of his time as a human. All he seemed to know was that he liked Thatch.

Luffy did his best to wade through the thick snow, but he isn't making much progress. His legs could barely reach halfway high enough to take another step forward. But, when Thatch offered to carry him, Luffy declined and said, "I c'n do it myself!" in determination. So Thatch walked very patiently with the boy, quickly left behind by everyone else.

The first place the two were going was the clothing store. Luffy was in need of more variety in clothing and shoes. Izou was going to come, but then Thatch had told him he wanted to do this with Luffy. Though he was irritated, Izou didn't push to go with them.

Luffy finally reached the sidewalk, which was slippery, his bottoms very damp. But he didn't complain, and the two wandered into a chain of shops to go on a shopping spree for the boy. Luffy wasn't very enthusiastic about the clothes shopping, though he wanted all of his clothes to be red, and he didn't even look at shoes before he picked them. What he was looking for most was going toy shopping.

Luffy tried to run around the store when they entered and saw the massive collection of toys, but the rope around him stopped the boy in his tracks. He pouted a bit, but when Thatch hurried his pace, he was able to catch up to the speed of Luffy's running. After all, the boy had very short legs, being three and all.

The few toys Luffy asked for were action figures of people and animals. He got a stuffed bunny, too. Thacth picked out some picture books for him as well. They then went to the market for food, Luffy clutching his baggy of toys close. He didn't want anyone to steal them from him! But he was quickly distracted by the wonderful smells all around him.

He walked with Thatch through the market, picking up _lots _of food since Luffy had used up a lot of their storage already. "I'm going to make something extra yummy tonight to celebrate your first time on a snow island," Thatch told Luffy cheerfully as he sat in one of the wagons of food that Thatch was rolling. He was still attached to him by the rope, but this was much more convenient.

"Somefing yummy? What's it, what's it?" Luffy asked excitedly. He picked up a pear absentmindedly and chomped on it.

"It's a surprise," Thatch answered with a wink. Luffy giggled. He liked nice surprises.

The second half of going back to the ship was a nightmare. The two wagons of food kept slipping on the ice, but when more Whitebeard pirates came over to help, they slowly but successfully got all of the food onto the ship. Thatch went into the storage room, putting all the non perishable foods in their places. He organized everything in his own way to make things easier when getting ingredients.

Luffy was sitting just outside the door, still in view of Thatch when he turned around. The little boy was playing with his new toys happily. He didn't see the predatory look Luffy was being given from a little ways away.

Teach found his one chance, and he wasn't going to waste it. Especially since he knew the commanders were coming back soon, and Whitebeard was taking a rest in his room. Age sure was tiresome. Even for the strongest man in the world.

The evil man walked to Luffy and crouched down. "Hey Luffy," he greeted "nicely".

"Hi Teash," Luffy replied.

"I bought some candy today at the sweet shop in town. Do you want to come try some?"

"Yah!" Luffy cheered, a bit too loudly for Teach's favor. He reached down and picked Luffy up, putting the boy on his shoulders, and took him to the back of the ship, where nobody really went unless there was a good reason. No one would find them before he killed Luffy.

"What kind of cand-?" Luffy began before pulled by the scruff of his shirt off Teach's shoulders and thrown a few yards away. Luffy cried out in pain, not sure what was happening. "Ow!" he cried loudly, holding his already bruising arm.

"Shut up, you little shit," Teach growled, now terrifying Luffy. He was frozen in fear for a few seconds but soon was trying to run away and back to Thatch.

"DADDY! Daddy! Help me!" Luffy cried as he was yanked back by his shirt again. He lifted his arms and was able to slide out of his shirt and run away back from the direction they came from. Teach now grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him down and up so Luffy's face his the floor, knocking out a baby tooth.

It hurt Luffy, and he was scared and crying out for help. But no one could hear him unless they were expecting to.

Teach wrapped his hand around Luffy's throat, which was very skinny. He could choke him just by using his thumb and middle finger. His cries died in his constricted throat. "You took away something that I wanted. The Devil Fruit you ate and don't even know what the fuck it is. I searched for that for years, faking being a member of this ship, and you ate it on _accident_!

"If I kill you, I may be able to find it again. So, you are about to die, Luffy," Teach said as he hung Luffy over the side of the ship.

"I s-orr-y! I d-in-'t mean t- to!" Luffy cried, though he was choking. "I don't care if you are sorry and didn't mean to. It doesn't give the fruit back, now does it?" and he dropped Luffy over the side of the ship.

"Alright, Luffy. Let's go get dinner started," Thatch said happily as he left the storage room, only to grow surprised when Luffy wasn't there. Only his toys. Luffy followed rules, and he knew he was supposed to be with Thatch at almost all times. So there would be a reason Luffy was gone. Thatch began to search the ship with his haki. He found no one on deck that was small enough for Luffy. Until suddenly there was a big spike of his haki.

Thatch began to run to where the little haki was, and came across Luffy hanging over the edge of the ship by the neck. Thatch screamed in anger and terror as Luffy dropped over the side.

"_Luffy!" _He ignored Teach at the moment as he ran to the side of the ship. He let out a sigh when he saw Luffy in monster form hanging onto the side of the ship with all of his legs clawed into the wood. He was terrified.

"I got you, Luffy!" Thatch shouted, so distracted by Luffy that he didn't know Teach was behind him until he was shoved overboard. Luffy's eyes widened and he let go of the side of the ship with one side of his legs to try and grab Thatch, but he slipped through his clawed fingers, making accidental gashes on the man's arm. But Thatch fell into the cold water.

Immediately, Luffy let out a blood curdling shriek for help. Thatch was below him, but the water was freezing, and the man would get hypothermia easily. Luffy didn't know that, he just knew Thatch needed help. He shrieked again.

Luffy quickly climbed up the side of the ship and snarled at Teach, though he was scared of this man. But he hurt Thatch!

Teach looked horrified. Where did this thing come from?! As the commanders started running towards him, Marco leading, they found Teach facing some sort of monster. It was scary looking, but Marco wasn't too fazed.

"What's going on, yoi?" he asked. But Luffy turned from Teach and ran back to the side of the ship and screeched again. Izo stayed away from the creepy thing but looked over the side to see Thatch barely treading water, too cold to say anything.

"Marco! Save Thatch, he's in the water!" the crossdresser commanded, and Marco didn't question it. Thatch was very out of it when Marco picked him up out of the water with his talons in phoenix form. He passed out.

"Commanders, this thing pushed Thatch overboard!" Teach said, though it still didn't click that this creature was little Luffy. The commanders all turned their eyes to Luffy in anger. Luffy had a bad feeling, and slowly walked backwards a little bit. When they followed closely, he knew something was wrong. Why were they all mad? The big man was the one who knocked Thatch overboard! Not Luffy!

When Marco landed on deck with Thatch, Luffy ran over to him, but was blocked by Izo, thinking the monster was going to hurt Thatch more. He looked at all the humans in confusion. "Marco, this _thing_ pushed Thatch over the edge. What do you think we should do with it?" he wondered.

"Let's lock it up. Ask what happened with Thatch later," Marco said in a bored tone. Izo pointed his gun at the little monster. Luffy sprinted away as fast as his short legs could take him and ran around the ship, the crew following him close behind. It was hard finding a hiding place outside, but he found one, one he hoped he could fit under. He tried to stuff himself under the massive throne, but was yanked out by his tail by a young man with freckles.

Luffy shrieked, thrashing around, trying to get away, but soon a metallic net closed around him. As he continued to shriek and yowl, some sort of rope was tied around his round snout, effectively silencing him.

The monster was dragged down into the ship and to the cells a the very bottom. He was thrown into the cell harshly, and soon left alone in the dark and cold chambers. Luffy cried. He was scared and was scared Thatch was hurt and it was cold and he hurt, too.

"Ugh…" Thatch murmured while waking up in the infirmary, still chilly but not painfully freezing anymore. "What happened?" he asked, things a little blurry about what had happened when he was in the water and beforehand.

"Some monster got on the ship and threw you over the railing, yoi," Marco said as he stood next to the bed Thatch was on. Everyone was confused when Thatch's eyes widened and he demanded to know where they put him. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. Thatch was angry. They could all tell. Even before he got the answer, he was angry. If Luffy was fine, he'd probably be laying on top of Thatch. But he wasn't there. "Where is he?" the man asked again, sounding angry.

"It's in a cell downstairs. Why do you want to see it if it pushed you over the railing?" Whitebeard said from the back of the room. For once, Thatch hadnt noticed his presence. Thatch didn't answer. He just ran out of the room and onto the deck to get to Luffy, who must be very upset. And he remembered everything that happened. Even before he was going to inform the crew about Teach's betrayal, he needed to see Luffy.

The brig was very cold and dark. It was very dusty as well. The second he opened the door, he could hear quiet sniffling coming from somewhere. The man hurried down the hall and to the last cell, to see monster Luffy curled up into a tight ball, shaking with cries.

Thatch didn't wait to break open the cell door and go to Luffy gently. He slowly put his hand on Luffy's first shoulder. With a smile, Thatch pet his head, the little spikes not sharp enough to hurt him yet.

"Hey, Luffy," the man said softly. "C'mere." Luffy didn't wait to uncurl and hug Thatch with four of his sets of legs. He sniffled some more against Thatch's chest. Thatch wrapped his arms around Luffy as well. "It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. Promise." Thatch paused. "Thank you for calling for help. You saved me. I know you don't remember what happened before, but Teach will never touch you again. Now or in human form. I promise." Luffy nodded against his chest.

Once Luffy felt safe and fell asleep, he changed back to his child form, still deeply asleep. Thatch removed his shirt and put it around Luffy. He wondered if the boy would remember anything. Well, his wounds would give it away. Thatch had never been angrier than he was when he saw the red ring around Luffy's neck, and the severely bruised arm. He also had a small cut under his left eye.

Thatch slowly walked down the hall and up to the deck to the infirmary. He passed the others on his way, but did not glance at them at all. He knew Luffy looked scary at first, but he knew how roughly the baby monster must have been handled. The others all looked at him in extreme confusion.

Marco frowned and followed after his fellow commander. As did Whitebeard, very confused himself. Marco gave everyone, even the other commanders, a look that told them not to follow. They walked into the room to see Thatch on a chair next to Luffy covered in a blanket while his bruises and cut were treated. He didn't turn to look at the captain and first mate. He didn't want them to find out, and especially not like this.

"Thatch," Marco began. "Care to explain?" He sounded a bit snappy, since this was a huge secret he'd been keeping. Maybe even favoring Luffy than the crew's wellbeing. Was that monster violent? Didn't it push Thatch overboard?

"It's Luffy," Thatch said simply. Human or beast form, it was his Luffy. That's all that should matter!

"You know what I mean, yoi," Marco said impatiently. Thatch sighed, and turned around. Whitebeard had been quiet since he walked in, observing his son closely. He looked like a cornered animal, who was also protecting his cub. The captain had not been present at the scene. He'd only heard about it. He also hadn't seen what the monster looked like.

"Teach has betrayed us. He dropped Luffy off the side of the ship by his throat, and then pushed me over the edge when I tried to help him. Luffy didn't push me off, he saved me by getting everyone's attention."

Marco's eyes widened. Thatch had admitted that the monster really _was _Luffy. How? And it stung that his brother betrayed them. But that would have to wait.

"What happened to him?" Marco asked. "Was that monster really Luffy?"

"Yeah."

Marco immediately felt terribly ashamed of his and his crew's action to Luffy, monster or not. They'd beaten him, gagged him, dragged him into a cell, and left him in the dark. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you know what he is?" Marco asked, feeling like he was now walking on thin ice.

"No." Thatch sighed. He had to tell them, everything. He wanted this to be a secret! "Every night, after 9:30, Luffy falls asleep and then wakes up in that form. He hasn't hurt me. Mostly misbehaving about wanting attention and affection," Thatch said with a small, fond smile. "The banging you sometimes hear is him slamming his tail on the floor. He also drools a lot.

"He doesn't know about it when he wakes up. He was kept in a cage at the old 'home' at night because of what happens to him. I looked in every book we have, and found _nothing_ to explain it." Then he looked at Marco and Whitebeard with a hard face. "Nothing needs to be explained because he is Luffy."

Whitebeard looked at Thatch very seriously. "Did you think we would reject him? I know the feeling of being a father protecting his sons, and I would never treat him anyway I don't treat as all of your father."

Thatch looked at the floor. "Everyone barely accepted a fishman. How would they react to Luffy? I don't even have an explanation."

"We will not kick him off because of something he cannot control and you say isn't dangerous," the captain said firmly. "The crew will just need to get used to it. You've kept that version of Luffy in your room at night?"

"Yeah. He sleeps with me on my bed. He makes it a bit difficult 'cause he's so heavy. He mostly sleeps at night, and I've noticed, even when he doesn't sleep, he seems to be fine and well-rested the next morning."

"God, now I feel terrible about what happened. He didn't fight back at all. And with those claws, he could have easily gotten one of us. And he's three… God," Marco said, sounding deeply ashamed. Whitebeard put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"What does he look like?" the large man questioned. He was very curious since many of the crew had talked about how scary it looked. _He _looked.

Thatch didn't want to say. He couldn't tell his father what Luffy looked like before he met him. Well, the other side of him. So Marco did it, having no real emotional ties with his view.

"He's light purple with plated skin, like armor. Has a couple blunt horns," Marco began, at once noticing how young Luffy had seemed in that form. Even if it hadnt been Luffy, they'd still abused a baby creature.

"Has a long tail and a long neck," he continued. "What's most odd is that he has six legs on each side. He made this terrible screeching noise the whole time.

"Best way to way to describe him is he looks like a small, wingless, _weird, _dragon." Then he turned to Thatch, who was now holding Luffy's tiny hand, waiting for him to wake up. "I'm really sorry, Thatch," Marco apologized, clearly sincere. "I'm sorry, Luffy."

"Luffy won't remember how you guys treated him when he wakes up." Marco was thankful for that.

"Hey, buddy," Thatch said when Luffy opened his eyes and yawned. "How are you feeling?" Luffy looked confused before he remembered what had happened, and began to cry. Careful of Luffy's injuries, Thatch hugged him.

"H-he was nice to me an- an den he hurt me!" Luffy cried, feeling utterly betrayed. Teach was being nice to him and then he started to hurt Luffy. Luffy remembered feeling Teach's hand leave his throat as he was dropped, but then he woke up here in bed. What happened between then and now? And why did Marco look so uncomfortable?

"I know, he fooled us all. Did he tell you why he was gonna hurt you?" Thatch asked, standing up to sit on the bed with little Luffy. The boy continued to cry as he explained how the bad man had wanted Luffy's devil fruit that he ate by accident.

Thatch and Marco were horrified that he'd been lying to them all that time. Whitebeard was furious and grieving the son he thought he'd had. Teach had been with them for awhile. The man turned around and left the room, going to find Teach. It had been way too long since what happened, with Thatch being asleep and all.

"Where is Teach?" Whitebeard asked loudly on deck. He gave off a terrifying aura. This sent everyone who saw and heard him scurrying off to find Teach. What could the guy have done to piss off Pops this much? Because they'd never seen or heard him say one of his son's name with such anger and hurt as well.

But Teach wasn't found. He wasn't anywhere on the ship. He had to have gone somewhere, and the water around them was freezing. If Teach did jump to get back on land a little ways away, then he'd be dead. Thatch was only in the water for maybe a minute and he was sick.

When Thatch was told this not long after, he wanted to go on the island and search for him himself. The traitor who hurt his baby boy. That was unforgivable, and Thatch wanted to make him pay.

There was a search party at Whitebeard's direction, though Thatch didn't take place in it.

"You'll be okay. And you have a lot of uncles on this ship! There's no need to be heartbroken over someone who barely knew you. You have lots of people around you who love you," Thatch explained kindly. "Your bruises will heal."

"I loss'a toof, too, I fink," Luffy said, sticking one of his small fingers in his mouth to feel around for the empty spot that had had a tooth.

"That's okay. Another tooth will grow instead." Luffy's jaw dropped.

"Really?!" the boy exclaimed, finally distracted away from the horrible event he just went through. Thatch smiled and ruffled his hair. He explained that all of Luffy's teeth would come out and then grow again. The boy frowned when he was told his teeth were baby teeth. He wasn't a baby! He was already three, that's not a baby.

"I not a baby, I already a big boy," Luffy said, as if trying to drill in his fact into Thatch's head. Marco laughed quietly, finally losing that guilty look. He was to stay on board while the others searched for Teach. He was glad Luffy didn't remember how Marco had just told the others to capture him and throw him in a cell. Would his other form remember?

He wondered again how this thing worked. How Luffy seemed to have split personalities along with both of his forms. Once they were away from this island in a few days, they would go searching for answers. He'd tell his father that. He didn't know if the transformations could ever stop, also not knowing if it was even right to try and stop them.

After all, that form was part of Luffy. And it didn't seem to do anything to hurt the little boy. The two just seemed to coexist in peace. But his monster form looked like it would grow to be very powerful. He already had claws that stuck out, even though they werent dagger sharp yet, and he had a lot of canine teeth, along with how big he was probably going to get. He just hoped that growing up wouldn't cause the monster to be violent.

He hoped not.

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**Once again, Luffy is not completely accurate. He's my representation of a cute toddler.**


	4. The Repercussions

**WOW! 371 views in one day, omg! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, too. There are two more after this one and then it's over. Man I wish I could make it longer so I could have more views! Lol. Enjoy~**

Dinner was very uncomfortable for everyone but Luffy, who acted normal and didn't notice the tense atmosphere and so many eyes on him. He just ate his father's food with gusto. He _was _surprised when a lot of crew members did not leave after eating. Most of the time, they go on their ways to do whatever they do. No, everyone was waiting for _Luffy _to go to bed. They'd all been scarcely informed, but those who hadnt seen his "scary" form, didn't quite take the situation seriously. It was so unbelievable that many didn't think it was true. It just seemed like a prank, like usual.

Luffy mostly drew on his pad of paper until 9:00, when Thatch took him into their room to sleep/turn. When he picked up the sleepy boy, he gave a look to everyone to not follow them. But of course, some did.

When Thatch got into their room, he locked the door and stuffed some clothes in the crack between the door and the floor. For monster Luffy's comfort, he also took the desk chair and propped it against the door handle so no one would be able to get even if they got through the lock.

"Daddy, what is you doing?" Luffy asked as he changed into his loose night shirt that didn't tear at night. He snuggled into his blankets on his comfortable mattress. Thatch turned around to face him with a smile.

"I don't want anyone disturbing your sleep, of course," was the cook's smooth reply. "Now, let's get to bed so we can wake up early tomorrow and make a yummy breakfast." Luffy agreed happily and curled into a ball, wrapped tightly in his thick blankets. It was nice they did not rip when he changed.

Like usual, Luffy quickly fell asleep while Thatch was waiting for him to change and come to him. He had no doubt Luffy would be traumatized by the experience. After all, human or not, Luffy was still a toddler.

Luffy smoothly changed at the usual time, but did not leave his thick blankets. He was scared. Scared he'd be hurt and trapped again.

"Luffy," Thatch said softly, calling him over. Luffy did, hurrying to Thatch and onto the big bed. "Don't worry, no one will get in. And if they do, I'll be there to kick them out and make them get away from you. Promise. And I know you'll protect me, too. Right?"

Luffy slowly nodded as he walked to his spot, pulling the blanket up with his mouth and covering himself completely. He couldn't fit under the bed, and he wanted to be close to Thatch, so he was in between hiding and cuddling.

Thatch slept on his side, facing Luffy, and was able to hear Luffy's high pitched whimpering from under the light blanket.

Thatch woke up to take Luffy's blanket off and gently pet his cheek. The monster was probably having a nightmare. "Luffy. Hey, Luffy, wake up," Thatch said gently. Luffy startled awake and stumbled backwards and into the wall that Thatch's bed's side was against.

"It's okay, I'm here. You're fine and safe." Luffy crawled back over to Thatch and rested his chin on Thatch's chest. The man rested his arm on Luffy's hardback. It really wasn't comfortable to sleep with him like this, but Thatch had gotten over it.

It was nearly morning when their bedroom door was knocked on. Thatch grumbled a curse word when he woke up from the noise. Though not the noise of the door being knocked on. It was the thudding noises Luffy was making as he desperately looked for a hiding place. But he couldn't find one, so he just picked up the tip of his mattress with his mouth and propped it up against himself like a shield. Thatch frowned in pity and concern.

He walked to the door and undid all the work he'd done to make Luffy feel safe. The man opened the door a crack to see Marco there, looking grim. Thatch immediately thought something bad had happened, and stepped out in the hall, closing the bedroom door behind him. "What's wrong?" the cook asked in concern.

"Can I see him, yoi? I can't sleep feeling like shit. Can I apologize?" Marco asked quietly. He didn't want any of the other pirates that roomed in that hall to hear the two talking. Thatch furrowed his brows, not knowing what to say.

"Hang on," Thatch said and closed the door behind him, leaving Marco waiting outside the room.

He approached Luffy, who was still hiding behind the propped up mattress. He looked at Thatch as he came from the side and shook his head. Of course he heard and understood what Marco had said, though it had been quiet.

"You don't have to see him, but he really wants to apologize. Can you do that? You can stay behind the mattress and I'll be in front of you to protect you if anything happens, though Marco wont hurt you ever again." Luffy's long tongue licked his lips and nodded, brow bones furrowed. Thatch found it very interesting that Luffy could so clearly show human emotions while in this beast form.

Thatch went back to the door and opened it enough for Marco to speak, but not see where Luffy even was. Much of the room was still in the dark for Luffy's comfort.

"Luffy, I just wanted to apologize for how horribly we treated you. Yes, we thought you'd hurt Thatch, because of that _traitor,_ but we were still too harsh on you. Especially when you didn't fight back. Even if you weren't Luffy, and some other animal, the way we treated you was inhumane.

"I completely understand if you don't feel comfortable coming out to see any of us like this, but no one is going to hurt you like we did. So, I'm sorry. And I know the other commanders are as well."

When Luffy peeked one dark eye around his mattress, he saw Marco looking at his feet in shame. Luffy looked sad himself. He was still scared of this man, but he seemed sincere. Thatch looked to his side at Luffy, who looked a bit confused and uneasy. Thatch knew that had been enough for now.

"Thanks, Marco," Thatch said, really meaning it. Hopefully this was the starting point of getting monster Luffy to trust everyone. Luffy climbed back up onto Thatch's bed to go back to sleep, somewhat happy that one of his attackers felt sad and apologized. Even though Luffy probably wouldn't feel comfortable with anyone besides Thatch seeing him for awhile.

Luffy just curled up in a ball on the mattress and easily fell back asleep, not moving for the rest of the night, until a few hours after Luffy changed back into his little child form. He woke up from a sneeze, confused for a moment. He always woke up next to Thatch, even when he went to bed on his own mattress. Part of him wondered why, but he liked it, so why ask? Maybe it was magic or something amazing.

Thatch was still asleep as Luffy scooched up to mess with his daddy's big hair, holding in giggles. It ended up looking like a cone of some sort, and Luffy was proud of it. Oh well, Thatch would probably take a shower. Luffy had used to like baths, but now that he fell asleep and not able to move in the water, he wasn't very fond of them.

Luffy hadnt given much thought to his devil fruit because he found no reason to use it, or how. He was told it was the dark dark fruit, but Luffy wasn't interested in darkness. He didn't like the color black much. He liked vibrant colors, like all of his clothes. Plus, he didn't like that the bad man wanted it so much. Did that mean Luffy was bad for having what the mean Teach wanted?

And where did he go? He just disappeared. Would he go after Luffy again? No, he knew his daddy had somehow saved him. He did wonder what happened after he was hurt badly, but he thought maybe he didn't want to know too bad.

The bruise ring around his neck was now yellow, and his arm still hurt. He had to put it in a sling after bumping it on the table and crying out in pain. He was also bumped into sometimes because it was hard to remember for some of the crew that Luffy's arm was injured. So they used the sling to bring attention to the others to be more careful with the toddler.

For some reason, manyl of the commanders smiled at him and spent more time with him than usual. While some didn't even look at him. He wondered why everyone was so friendly now.

The reason was that those who hurt him felt very guilty, and were unable to apologize to monster Luffy without him hiding or freaking out. Izou had tried to apologize too, like Marco, but monster Luffy freaked out about him most. He was the one who separated him from Thatch, and was the one to say mean things about him. The first to point his gun at. So Izou would not have monster Luffy interact with him at all.

It made him and Thatch sad. But Thatch didn't push Luffy. He didn't want to give the monster a panic attack. Even though he wasn't in a human body, that form still had a human brain, and felt emotions the same. So why wouldn't he have a panic attack? He had reasons to after all, and still had nightmares.

Thatch hoped this hadnt damaged Luffy for life, since Luffy was still very shapeable at his young age. Finally, one day, Thatch talked to the commanders while Luffy played a simple board game with Haruta, who hadnt been present with the whole ordeal. He let Luffy win almost every round, though he couldn't figure out how to play the game correctly.

"I think everyone should give monster Luffy a very sincere apology. Like, bowing on the ground sincere. I know it will be a bit embarrassing but-"

"I'll do it," Izo said right away. Jozu, Vista, Ace, Marco and Fossa all agreed, even though Ace wished he didn't have to in the first place. But he was the one to catch Luffy and yank him harshly out from his hiding spot. He did feel bad about that.

"Then, if he's alright afterwards, if he is okay with it, I'd like to meet him," Whitebeard said after listening to his group of sons speak. He was proud of them for wanting to try and get the other version of Luffy to trust them again. And that they felt true remorse for their actions. He was disappointed in them all at first, but they didn't know then. While it wasn't the best way to handle the situation, they did believe that Luffy tried to kill their brother.

Whitebeard was most furious with Teach for blaming Luffy and causing the whole ordeal.

Thatch smiled in approval of all of them. "Alright, at 10:00 knock on the door gently, and I'll open it. Everyone should already be bowed," he explained. The others nodded. "Thanks, guys." The others just smiled at him.

Luffy became distracted from the game by the group of uncles, papa, and daddy all talking quietly, smiling. He wondered what they were talking about. Probably something fun. He wanted in on it!

"Haru, what is dey all talking about?" he asked curiously. Haruta smiled at him.

"It's a secret." Luffy gave a short pout.

The commanders were all gathered at the main table to speak about where they were headed next. Where their destination was for the time being. Thatch knew where and what he wanted to do, but he didn't know if the others really cared. But he wasn't the only one with the same idea. Marco was first to speak. Whitebeard usually left his sons to talk amongst themselves while he spoke up at their agreed plans. It was majority vote on their purpose for the next destination.

"I want to know what Luffy is," Marco said in his bored voice. Many others nodded, and Thatch gave a pleased smile. Though not all of them had been present, those who were wanted answers as well. "I think we should go looking for answers, yoi."

The vote was almost unanimous except Kingdew. But he was the most difficult commander, so it wasn't a surprise. It was mostly him and his division that didn't want a fishman aboard. Thatch had expected him to vote down, but majority won, which he was glad of.

Luffy had been in the room during the meeting because Thatch refused to have him alone with anyone he didn't have complete faith and trust in. It wasn't a problem with him being in there since he was napping with earmuffs on. He was deeply asleep, so he didn't hear his name bouncing around in the conversation.

The commanders other than those who saw the boy in his other form looked at him skeptically. He looked completely harmless, but almost didn't want to see what he looks like at night. If the strongest commanders thought it was creepy and downright scary, then they thought they wouldn't be able to handle it.

Well, Thatch had kept his secret just fine for many weeks. Maybe they would never even have to see it.

Dinner was better than it had been the night before. More lively, and less eyes on their littlest crew member. Things were looking more normal than the day before, but the people who saw Luffy didn't know why. Nothing had changed for the others. They hadnt heard the commanders conversations or meetings. Thatch thought was strange. Maybe everyone just didn't want to see Luffy after all, except the commanders besides Kingdew.

Luffy had a big dessert that night, not sure why, but he enjoyed it anyways. Thatch knew, no matter how much sugar Luffy ate, he'd fall asleep at the same time he always did. So the boy had a large bowl of ice cream with marshmallows, sprinkles and chocolate drizzle. Even if monster Luffy wasn't "awake" while Luffy was in toddler form, maybe, somehow, the monster would enjoy the dessert that his human side sure did.

"Alright, bed time, Luffy," Thatch said cheerfully as he picked up a very sleepy and satisfied Luffy, who yawned, as they walked to their bedroom. It had been a very long time since Thatch was on watch duty, but there were over a thousand crew members. They could do just fine without him. He had his own watch duty, even if some of it meant he was sleeping.

Thatch changed Luffy into his large "sleep shirt" and tucked him into his bed, making sure he had his stuffed animal that he'd begun to sleep with in his other form too, brining it with him into Thatch's bed. It made the man wonder if monster Luffy was aware of his life during the day. Human Luffy sure wasn't aware of his life at night.

"Hey, Luffy," Thatch greeted when monster Luffy peeked his head out of his thick blanket. He let out a snorting noise in what Thatch assumed was a greeting back. Like usual, he left his bed, shaking the blanket off that was going along with him. He picked up his stuffed bunny with his blunt teeth and walked to Thatch's bed to lay down and sleep. But Thatch stayed sitting.

"There are some people who want to speak with you," he started, but Luffy vehemently shook his head. His dark eyes had gone wide in fear. "It's really important. I'd really like for you to let me open the door. You don't have to go out, or have anyone out there see you. But we need to clear the obstacle of being afraid of everyone but me.

"It was a big, and _wrong _mistake, what happened to you, and everyone knows that. Please, just let me open the door," Thatch finished sincerely. He was practically begging. Luffy frowned, his mouth barely dipping down in the corners.

"Alright. I'm going to open the door now," Thatch said, making Luffy shake a little bit. Thatch hated it. But he walked the few yards to the wooden door and opened it wide enough for Luffy to see the group of people who had terrorized him, all bowing on the floor. Luffy looked surprised, and was even more when they each began to apologize in their own speech.

Luffy could hear the regret, self hatred and guilt in their voices. And they didn't look up at him, giving him the feeling of still being protected by not being seen. Luffy looked up to Thatch, who looked down at him encouragingly.

Luffy forgave them, though he didn't want to be alone with any of them anytime soon. He walked into the light coming from the open door and nodded his head, though they couldn't see him. Thatch smiled warmly at Luffy.

"Do you forgive them?" he asked softly. Luffy slowly nodded his small head. "Good," Thatch said in relief, smiling at Luffy even bigger. "Can you let them see you?" Thatch knew it was a long shot, but Luffy nodded, walking slowly into the light where the few people could see him if they raised their heads.

"You guys can raise your heads, now," Thatch said. Luffy quickly walked to Thatch's side and held onto his leg with one arm. The others slowly looked up and smiled at him. Now that all of them really looked at him, not in a rushed and angry moment, they could see that he didn't look as horrifying as he had when they were angry and upset when they thought he'd pushed their brother over the railing of the ship.

They could see that he clearly was young, whatever species he was. He had a rounded face with big brown eyes and little blunt spikes along his forehead and neck. He swung his plated tail back in forth in anxiety. Even the spikes off the tip of his tail were short and rounded. His dozen legs were each prety short and small. The claws he hadnt fought back with were sharp, but not as sharp talons. He looked so… weak. And vulnerable.

"Hi, Luffy. I'm Marco. I'm the vice captain, first mate, yoi," the man explained. Luffy blinked in confusion with "yoi". He looked up at Thatch, who assumed right what he was thinking.

"It's just something he says. It has no meaning," Thatch told him quietly. Luffy looked back at the others as they each introduced themselves to this version of the littlest crew member. It was weird to them. He was very different to them based on his actions, even if he was still a little creepy to them. The way he gripped onto Thatch's leg with big eyes, he looked so young. Like a three year old… whatever he was. Hopefully they'd get some answers on any nearby islands.

Luffy shuffled his legs uncomfortably. But he listened to them as they each apologized separately. When he saw how guilty and saddened they looked while they spoke to him, he knew they were being sincere. And Thatch wouldn't let anyone near him that he didn't trust wholly.

Once it was clear everyone were done apologizing, Luffy looked at the wooden floor but nodded his head. He didn't see the others all smile in relief. They thanked him for accepting their apologies. That they hoped Luffy would come out and play with them some time.

Luffy, being the young child he was, looked up at the prospect of playing outside. He wasn't really allowed outside of the room, but now that his secret was out, Luffy didn't need to stay in the bedroom at all times anymore, though he knew Thatch wanted and needed to sleep at night. Luffy nodded again, though he didn't want to play that night. He was tired, and just wanted to sleep.

Thatch and the others could see Luffy's big eyes drooping, and the pirates in the hall all bid the two goodnight. Thatch got down on his knees once the door was closed and locked behind them, and hugged the little monster. "I'm proud of you, Luffy," the man said. "We can play tomorrow. That sound good?" Luffy nodded his head enthusiastically and hurried over to the big bed to curl up.

Thatch laid down next to him and brought the blankets over them both, glad that it seemed a big hurdle had been passed.

Like usual, when Luffy changed back, Thatch woke up. He smiled at the ceiling. They had a real course they were heading to, which was nice. They'd just been meandering for a bit. The next inhabited island was a couple days from now. Most of the commanders would be searching the island for answers. The others were not given much information as it didn't matter to them much. They were all curious, but were ordered to let it go.

It was hard to do when those who knew some of what had happened that day had told others. So the whole crew under the commanders were painfully curious. But they followed the orders of their superiors and did not ask questions or speak to Luffy about anything that they knew happened.

"Daddy?" Luffy began. "C'n we play hide an seek?" he asked hopefully. Thatch smiled down at him and then turned to the others at the table.

"How about it?" he asked his fellow commanders. All of them often played games, though Thatch had been taking less part in them while taking care of Luffy, but he didn't mind. Though he did miss the pranks a bit, he was happy to take care of Luffy. But he would not leave him unsupervised and would hide along with the boy.

"I'm in," Haruta said. Many others agreed to play as well. Namur offered to be the first counter, and Luffy made a very happy squeal, trying to get out of his special seat so he could run off and hide.

Thatch put his hand on Luffy's shoulder and reminded him that he still had food on his plate. Luffy gasped as he looked at his plate in shock. He'd never not finished a meal before, so he scarfed down the last few sausages. "We can play in a little bit after I clean up, okay?" Luffy nodded but pouted at having to wait.

After everyone was done eating, and the word had spread about a game of hide and seek, Thatch cleaned up all the dishes and table tops and _then _lifted Luffy out of his chair. "Now, we have to hide together, okay?" Thatch said as Luffy sat on his shoulders.

"Okay!" the little boy cheered. He had never really had a real game of hide and seek. Grandpa had never been enthusiastic about any games together, and would always get angry when he couldn't find Luffy, who was good at fitting into tight spaces. Luffy had never won but the last time he'd seen grandpa. It was sad to say he didn't miss Garp. He just wasn't a fun person. Thatch and his new family were all fun and nice, except the mean man who hurt Luffy, and was still missing. Luffy didn't know that somebody was always in the crows nest to keep a lookout for any other ships, one belonging to Teach specifically. Luffy was still alive, which meant the devil fruit Teach had wanted so bad was still out of his grimy reach. No one knew if Teach had deduced that he hadn't killed Luffy. They were betting on the fact that he hadnt known about Luffy's condition, meaning that he thought he'd successfully killed a three year old. Sick bastard.

But they kept an eye open regardless.

Luffy giggled as he and Thatch ran down the halls and into the room Luffy chose to hide in. A few other crew members ran down the hall as well to hide in other rooms. Luffy's small feet stuck out from under the curtains he hid behind. Thatch hid behind the door, so if it was opened, no one could see him in the dark room.

Thatch "shush"ed Luffy's giggles, which would no doubt give them away, even with the door closed. Namur had good ears. While Luffy was being quiet, they could hear loud laughter coming from the hall, along with the sound of running feet. Luffy wiggled his toes, wanting to go outside and see what was so funny, but he didn't want to lose the game.

When the door slammed open with Namur in the doorway, Luffy jumped and squealed in surprise from the sudden loud noise. The curtains were pulled out of the way to expose Luffy, looking shocked.

"Gotcha!" the fishman exclaimed. He hadn't seen Thatch to the side of the door, and yelped when Thatch jumped him. Luffy giggled madly and ran out from between their legs and into the hallway. So the chase began.

Luffy was slow with his short legs, and was caught up to easily. That was the funnest game of tag he'd ever played! "Did I win?" Luffy asked as he was dangling by his feet in Thatch's big hands.

"Nah, we lost. There are still some others hiding. Want to look for them?"

"Yah!"

Lunch was a happy event, everyone still on their high of the fun game. Turns out Marco was the one to win, as he was hiding in the sails after flying up there. But everyone had given up by the time the man knew the others had all been found. He glared at them for leaving him up in the sails when they game wasn't even going on anymore. But when Luffy congratulated him on his win, he made Marco's grumpiness disappear.

Luffy was happy all day, still thinking about how fun that morning had been. He wanted to play more games with everyone. Maybe next time they could play tag! But he grew sleepy very quickly awhile before dinner. Thatch carried the sleeping toddler into the kitchen and onto his pile of pillows and blankets.

Dinner was going to be like a Thanksgiving dinner, since that was the favorite meal for almost everyone. It would take a long time to make the food, so Thatch hoped Luffy stayed asleep.

Once dinner was close to being done, Luffy had woken up, but looked and acted exhausted, even though he'd been napping for hours. He sleepily walked to Thatch to pick him up and bring him to the table for dinner. Thatch just assumed the game that day had made Luffy very tired.

But the man grew concerned when Luffy kept dropping his blunt fork as he brought food to his mouth. And he didn't seem to notice that it was happening since he just continued to attempt to eat, not saying anything about how he couldn't even get one mouthful of the yummy food. The other commanders near Luffy, the ones who usually sat with him and Thatch, looked at him in concern as well. Was he ill?

"I'm going to take Luffy to bed early. Can one of you clean up for me tonight?" Thatch asked. He'd never really asked anyone other than he and the chefs to clean up the leftovers and the mess all of the pirates had made.

"Sure," Izo said with a smile.

"Feel better, Luffy," Marco said kindly. But Luffy didn't even seem to hear it as he rested in Thatch's arms, his small body limp. Thatch frowned in worry and hurried to their room, not even saying goodnight to anyone. When he looked back at it, he should have taken to boy to the nurses.

Thatch closed the bedroom door behind him at 8:30, earlier than usual. But because Luffy seemed sick, Thatch would make sure he got a lot of sleep. But then something unexpected happened. Luffy shifted in Thatch's arms, ripping his clothing. It was an hour earlier than usual, and it concerned Thatch. Monster Luffy was still asleep in his daddy's arms as Thatch walked to the bed and laid him down gently. He didn't go to sleep, though. He was waiting for Luffy to wake up and to see if he was okay.

The boy monster stayed asleep for a good two hours, which was unusual. Everything about tonight was unusual. When he did wake up, and looked around, disoriented. How did he end up on Thatch's bed? He always woke up on his mattress and _then _went to Thatch's bed.

"Hey buddy. How you feelin'?" the man with the big hair asked. Luffy just looked at him in confusion, but otherwise looked completely normal. Was something only wrong with Luffy's human form? Luffy stood up and stretched, much like a cat would, before flopping back down onto his side. He had been offered to play last night, but he was very sleepy, and didn't really want to play. He would have usually loved to play, but tonight he just wanted to sleep.

"Do you want to play outside?" Thatch questioned. He was slightly relieved when Luffy shook his head no. His eyelids drooped lower and lower before he fell back asleep quietly. Thatch would have stayed to watch him all night, but he knew he had to sleep to take care of a sick Luffy tomorrow if the boy still was acting abnormal.

Thatch finally went to bed after Luffy sleep walked onto Thatch's chest and probably unintentionally started purring. This made Thatch think that Luffy in this form would be fine tonight. They both slept peacefully, not knowing what would happen tomorrow.

**Luffy's behavior is my vision of a cute little boy. Not everything is accurate. **


	5. The Problems Begin

**Hello everyone! New chapter here. I will reveal what creature Luffy is in the next chapter, which is the last. If you already know, please don't spoil it in the reviews.**

**Speaking of reviews, I welcome constructive, polite criticism, but hurtful, insulting reviews for no reason are not what I'm looking for. I know it was only one person who did that, but I just wanted to say this so I don't get any more reviews like the one I did. I have blocked this individual, so he will give me no more problems. Hope that's the end of the mean reviews. **

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter~**

Something was wrong. Thatch was waking up and knew something was wrong. He couldn't figure it out before he looked to the side to see Luffy. Still in his monster form. And the sun had risen awhile ago. Luffy looked completely fine, just sleeping. But he should be a human right now! He _always _woke up in human form after the sun rose.

Thatch became paranoid quickly and gently woke Luffy up. He opened his big eyes and looked around, confused about the sunlight streaming through the porthole window. Luffy in this form had seen the sun only once. And that time was when he automatically shifted to save himself after Teach dropped him overboard. But he hadnt really had time to think about the abnormal color of the sky from his terror of being chased and captured.

He stood up and leaned against the wooden wall and looked outside the open window to see a light blue sky. What was the yellow thing that made his vision turn purple? He blinked, trying to get the mysterious purple dots out of his eyes.

Luffy looked at Thatch in obvious confusion. The man did his best to hide his worry and panic. "Have you never seen the day before?" he asked, trying to change the subject to keep his mind off of the worry about Luffy's wellbeing. Luffy shook his head, and jumped off the bed to bound to the door. He had no idea something was wrong, and just wanted to go outside to see the day.

Thatch was unsure of what to do. He had to go cook breakfast, and he would need to take Luffy with him. How would everyone react to seeing this little creature hanging out in the dining room and kitchen? The commanders had seen him, but no one else besides Teach. Whitebeard hadn't even seen him because Thatch decided Luffy wasn't ready to meet such an intimidating and massive man after being scared of the others and unable to leave the room.

But the others… well, they wouldn't know what their reaction would be unless they tried.

Thatch dressed as Luffy attempted to unlock the locked bedroom door. He couldn't get a good grip with his little feet/hands. He scratched at it and thumped his hands against the wood.

"I'm coming," Thatch said patiently. He unlocked the open door and followed Luffy at brisk pace as the little one ran. Of course he was very slow thanks to his age and very short legs. He could smell the sea coming from down the hallway and followed that until they reached a door with sunlight streaming through the crack below it.

"Gotta be quiet, okay?" Thatch asked kindly. After all, there were bedrooms not far from the doors to the deck. Luffy nodded and impatiently waited for the door to be open. When it was, Luffy went running out and looked everywhere in wonder. He ran to the side of the ship and looked down at the water, and then ran across the deck to the other side to see if the water on _this _side was different from the other.

After running around for a bit, he flopped down on the floor and laid in the warm sunlight. Thatch had almost completely stopped worrying about human Luffy being sick, but was still concerned about the boy still not in human form. What was causing it?

Thatch checked his watch to see it was time to start making breakfast with the other cooks who were no doubt in the kitchen already. They were all kind people, so Thatch wasn't worried about how they would react to this current version of the child.

"Time to go get make breakfast, Luffy," the man said, crouching in front of the little monster. His eyes widened and he jumped back up. "Have you never had breakfast before?" he asked, wondering how he'd been treated at the marine base if he'd never gotten to try food at any time in this form. Well, today would be a first considering Luffy had shaken his head.

"Okay, we gotta go through the ship to get to the kitchen, so make sure to be quiet so we don't wake anyone else up, okay?" Luffy nodded his head vigorously as he rushed to the wrong door. "This one," Thatch said with a smile, leaving the door wide open for Luffy to run in and down the hall. He made loud noise, so Thatch run up behind him and scooped him up, his weight not limiting him or anything. He's a commander of the Whitebeard Pirates after all.

"Shhhh. We have to be quiet," he told he boy, who made a squeaking noise of laughter before reaching up with his hands and trying cover his mouth. He could only reach his mouth by bending his neck forward more.

The two made it into the kitchen, where Thatch was right and the sou chefs were getting things ready. Luffy followed him into the kitchen and pulled on his pants for food. The others in the kitchen hadnt noticed Luffy, and only looked down to see him when Thatch talked to seemingly no one.

"You have to be patient. It takes awhile to make food." He took an orange off the counter and told Luffy he could play with it, since the monster did not know it was edible. Luffy was more than happy to use the orange as a ball and batted it around the room, under the seats and tables as he played by himself.

Every few minutes, Thatch would look over the counter to see where Luffy was and if he was okay. Or if he finally shifted back into the little boy form. It had been over an hour since the time monster Luffy had woken up. He seemed very happy to be able to play around during the day, though Thatch was still concerned. But he glad that Luffy wasn't hurting.

"So… is that him?" one of the sou chefs asked Thatch, looking over to see Luffy on his back and playing with the orange with all of his legs.

"Yeah, that's Luffy," Thatch said as he flipped a pancake. It was getting closer to the meal and soon pirates would be flooding in. "Luffy? Can you come here?" Thatch called. Luffy rolled over and back to stand. He picked up his toy with his mouth, but not tight enough to make it known that the toy was edible.

"I'm gonna give you your breakfast first. I recommend the waffles, eggs and bacon with buttered toast on the side," Thatch said, listing the food that human Luffy liked the most. Monster Luffy had never had human food, or any food, before, so he couldn't exactly say he didn't like anything. So he nodded and flopped down in front of Thatch, which he did quite a lot, and waited for his food to be served. He was very excited.

The other cooks, who were now laying out the food on the long tables, smiled at the little creature. Though it was a bit creepy looking, the way it - he - acted was very cute. The chef laying out food came back from his table to bring Luffy a cup of apple juice with a straw, given that this version of the little boy didn't have opposable thumbs, and therefore couldn't hold the cup.

When Thatch had the plates of Luffy's food, he followed the man closely, resembling a cat really. Some of his other behaviors resemble a cat as well. The purring especially, and the way he played with the orange when he was on his back while his lower feet kicked at it.

When the plates were lowered to the floor on top of a clean mat, Luffy sniffed all of it before hesitantly taking a bit of the waffle and chewing it with his little teeth. "Do you like it?" Thatch questioned. Luffy nodded his head and quickly devoured everything he was given. He had trouble with the straw, so Thatch poured the juice into a large bowl so Luffy could lick it up, like a cat again.

The way Luffy ate, it was clear he would grow up with sharp teeth, since he had trouble chewing some of the food, and he chewed it awkwardly. So Luffy was meant to be a carnivore most likely.

But he was satisfied with the human food. If Luffy was still in this form for lunch, Thatch would try making him some meat. But Thatch really hoped human Luffy would come back so he could make sure he wasn't terribly sick, like the man had suspected the night before.

This whole situation made Thatch want answers even more. Could Luffy be unable to control his shifts now? Not just night and day shifts. He really hoped that they could get some explanations on the next islands they were going to. He was done being in the dark about this. To take care of Luffy, he had to know, and he had to be able to have Luffy control himself, and maybe Thatch could deal with the whole split-personality thing. Luffy didn't even know about the fact he was human and… not human. Thatch also really wanted to know the name of whatever monster Luffy was.

The first person to come in for breakfast was Haruta, followed closely by Marco, and then Whitebeard. None of them saw Luffy eating on the wood floors. Thatch quietly told the chef who was nearest to keep an eye on Luffy for a few minutes. As Luffy was eating, there wasn't much reason to watch him. But the man did anyways, glad that Luffy liked the toast that he was in charge of baking. Luffy finished the food quickly, like he did in his little boy form, and hurried over to his "ball" to play with it again. It seemed like Luffy had a short attention span since he quickly grew tired of his ball and wandered over to his favorite toys. The chef in charge of watching him wasn't fast enough to keep Luffy from picking up a figurine in his mouth and trotting over to Thatch to have him explain what it was.

"We have a problem, pops," Thatch said quietly. Whitebeard and Marco immediately turned very serious, not sitting down.

"What is it?" Marco asked. Haruta just listened in concern of whatever had Thatch shaken, since it was hard to make him so serious.

"It's Luffy. He never shifted back. I'm very concerned and don't know what to do. He seems fine, but it's very abnormal for him to wake up while still in his other form," Thatch said worriedly. Then Luffy came running under the tables, playing tag with the man trying to get him back to the kitchen area, and grabbed onto Thatch's pant leg with two sets of his arms/legs.

"What is it?" Thatch asked, immediately going to his kind, fatherly voice. Luffy stuck his toy in Thatch's hand. "Do you want to know what it is? It's a toy. It's called a 'figurine'. You play pretend with it," he explained, handing the toy back to Luffy, who went scurrying off to the rest of his "figurines" to play with.

"That's Luffy?" Haruta asked in shock. He hadnt been one of the pirates to see Luffy those weeks ago.

"Yeah. He didn't turn back into his human version. It's freaking me out," Thatch said truthfully.

Whitebeard watched Luffy run around in interest. He'd never seen anything like this. Seeing something new was always a rare but appreciated experience, though he didn't like how it was worrying Thatch like this. He knew both Luffy's best, and if he was concerned over his son, then there was reason to be concerned. Marco also watched Luffy as he batted his toys around happily.

"Well, we'll be at the island tomorrow morning at the soonest. It depends on the weather and any marines in our way. Don't worry, we're closer to finding some actual answers, yoi," Marco said in an assuring voice, feeling bad for his brother. Marco had never wanted or had children, so he didn't know what Thatch and Whitebeard felt like when their son/sons were in trouble.

"He's… kind of cute," Haruta commented. "How could you treat him so badly?" he asked Marco with a glare. "He's just a baby."

Marco looked at the table in shame. "You don't need to tell me that, yoi. I already still feel terrible about it." Whitebeard put his hand on Marco's shoulder, and then stood up to walk to Luffy, who was in his own little world as he rolled around on his usual pile of pillows. He seemed to be very happy.

When the man reached Luffy's little area, he crouched down and said hello. "My name is Whitebeard. It's nice to meet you, Luffy. Did you like the food?" Luffy nodded his head. He wanted more! But then, to Whitebeard's surprise, monster Luffy's eyes closed and he passed out, landing on his side.

Before Whitebeard could call for Thatch, he watched Luffy's body turn back into the little boy they all knew. The purple of the little monster's skin quickly faded into white and then the cream color of Luffy's skin. Eight legs contracted and seem to get sucked right into Luffy's abdomen. The tail just disappeared much like the legs. Luffy's hair came back and there he was, naked and asleep, but in human form.

It was the strangest sight the pirate captain had ever seen, and he'd see a lot in his long life. He gently picked up the tiny boy in his single hand and brought him to Thatch at the table. The change had been so quick that maybe twenty seconds had passed from Luffy being in monster form to the child form.

"Luffy!" Thach exclaimed and took his boy from his father. To Thatch's dismay, Luffy still looked as sickly as he had the day before. But he was awake now after being passed to his daddy. "How do you feel?" Thatch asked with worry.

"Is cold an my tummy hurts," Luffy replied. Haruta rushed off to Thatch and Luffy's bedroom to get the little boy some clothes to keep him warm and covered.

"Let's take you to the doctor. You'll be okay," Thatch assured his boy and he flopped forward against Thatch's chest, asleep. He quickly put Luffy into some clothes that Haruta collected from their room. Since much of the crew were asleep, Thatch bet on the doctor being in his own sleeping quarters and went there.

He knocked hard on the wooden door, and heard a yelp and thud from inside the room. Thatch assumed that he'd woken the man up and that he had fallen off his bed. When he opened the door to yell at whoever woke him up like that, he stopped before any words came out when he saw the fear on Thatch's face.

"What happened?" the man asked seriously, the two men hurrying towards the infirmary.

"I don't know. He was stuck in his other form and he came back and feels sick. Please, check him over," Thatch begged. The doctor put his hand up to try and calm the man.

"Of course I'm going to help, Thatch. Lay him down on the bed. Go get the thermometer please. It's on the shelf over there." So the two men worked over Luffy, who stayed asleep and sweaty on the cushiony bed. The doctor worked for over an hour, trying every test on Luffy, but nothing was medically wrong with him. He didn't have a illness, and no superficial wounds or infections. So no one knew what was wrong with him.

This upset Thatch, who stayed next to Luffy on the chair given to him. Thatch hated this. He'd never been more worried than he was right now. Even when a crewmember or himself got sick or wounded did not compare to how worried he was as he looked at the mysteriously sick Luffy.

Luffy finally woke up when he had to go to the bathroom. He opened his eyes slowly, feeling better than he had when he fell asleep, and saw his daddy next to him. "Daddy, I hafta go potty," he said sleepily. Thatch smiled at him in relief.

As he gently picked up the toddler to bring him to the nearest bathroom he asked him how he felt. Luffy responded that he felt better than before, but was still really tired. He just wanted to sleep for a long time. And on their way back to the infirmary, after Luffy had used the bathroom, Thatch told him a story about a baby sea king they'd come across years ago. Luffy listened to the story, a smile on his face, and drifted to sleep to the nice story. He liked happy endings.

Thatch stayed with Luffy all day, leaving the cooking to the others. It was strange to have food made for him instead of him making it himself. He felt guilty for not doing his job, but when he brought that up with the sou chef that brought him his sandwich and Luffy's soup, the older man told him to not worry about it. Thatch should take breaks from his work anyways. Everyone told him he overworked, though he loved his job.

But for Luffy, even if he felt guilty about it, he'd skip his job for as long as it took for Luffy to feel better. A few people visited Luffy, mostly those who knew about his condition, and helped Thatch to see Luffy wasn't dying, so he shouldn't be grieving.

And Luffy was getting better. Physically. He didn't have a fever anymore by the end of the day, and felt back to normal. He just acted a bit ditzy and forgetful, but Luffy was like that most of the time, so no one really thought anything of it. Thatch was so relieved when Luffy was able to leave the infirmary and go back the kitchen to have a treat after a very stressful and boring day.

Thatch and Luffy had opted out of dinner to stay in the library and eat in there while Thatch read Luffy adventure books. He had been so scared when Luffy was sick, and would make sure to keep a close eye on him from now on until they know what was wrong with him. Not that him turning into his monster form was wrong, just the abnormal shifting pattern and how sick he had become. Thatch had a gut feeling that things wouldn't be alright, as they were at that moment in the library.

Thatch made sure Luffy went to bed with him, instead of him on his own bed until he shifted into monster Luffy form. Luffy didn't complain and was comfortable laying next to his daddy on a big pillow. He asked why the window was open when it was so cold, so it was shut and the room became warm and cozy.

After waiting for Luffy to shift, and didn't, Thatch fell asleep. It had just been a stressful day and he needed to wind down. And Luffy had a stressful day as well, and wanted to just sleep, too. The boy slept in human form for over two hours, with nothing eventful happening until Thatch woke to a bloodcurdling scream of terror right next to his head.

Thatch gasped and sat up to see Luffy crying and screaming as two purple legs formed on his side and flailed about wildly. Luffy was terrified, and trying to get away from the protruding and unfamiliar appendages.

"Luffy! Luffy, you're alright! Shhhh, Luffy, you're okay. Calm down," Thatch assured, trying calm to help his boy's terror. Luffy sobbed, scared of what was happening to him before the purple legs disappeared once again.

"Wha's wrong wif me?!" Luffy cried, shaking in horror of the extra arms that had grown out of his side.

"There's nothing wrong with you, Luffy. It's just- it's hard to explain." Thatch didn't know how to say what he wanted to. He didn't want to upset Luffy, but he also wanted Luffy to know there was nothing wrong with him. But he'd tell the little boy the truth because there was really no lie he could tell him about the damn _arms _that came out of his human toddler body.

"Luffy, you know how you will go to sleep in your bed, and then wake up in mine? Well, that's because, during the night, you come to my bed and sleep. You don't remember it. Well, after you go to bed at night, you change. Into this adorable creature, and you don't remember it afterwards. The arms just now, are completely normal for you. You actually had twelve legs when you change. Do you understand so far?" Luffy shook his head. He had no idea what Thatch was talking about. But the man was patient.

"You know what a cat is, right?" Thatch asked, trying to break it down as simply as he could while still getting his point across to Luffy. The boy nodded with a frown. "Well, you turn into a cat at night. You just have more legs and look a little different. You aren't sick, or dirty, or broken. It's just how you are. There's nothing wrong with being different at night. It's just part of who you are. So don't worry if something like that happens. I know it must be very scary and unknown, but it's not going to hurt you, or hurt someone else. Try to think of it like this: there are two Luffy's. Each one has his own adventures. Cat Luffy has adventures at night, while you have adventures during the day.

"Everyone has something unique about them. Your uniqueness is just _very _unique. I think it's very cool. And you're so cute at night. Don't be afraid of who you are, alright?" Luffy looked down.

"I weird?" he asked, unsure about what to think of what he was just told. "I real? Which is real? Nighttime or me?"

"You aren't weird, and you and nighttime Luffy are both real. And you, in the cat form, saved my life. Do you want to hear that story?" Thatch asked, running his fingers over Luffy's small hand. The boy nodded. "It was after Teach hurt you. He dropped you over the edge. But you changed, and your other side held on to the side of the ship.

"I tried to reach you to help you up, but Teach pushed me over. You tried to grab my arm, but I slipped and fell into the freezing water, which could have killed me. But the first thing you did was to call out for help. And then the commanders came and saved me. But you were the one to show them where I was and alert them that something was wrong. You saved my life, and I will always be so thankful and grateful you were there.

"You're other side is a hero, Luffy. A very cool looking hero. He is real, and you are real. So don't worry. Okay?" Thatch finished. Luffy still had a scrunched up face in sadness and still a bit of fear. "Don't be afraid."

Luffy nodded his head and wiped his tears away with his forearm. "I go to sleep now…" the toddler said, though he was worried something else would happen while he slept. Thatch nodded and pulled the covers over both of them, Luffy laying back on the big pillow. He was out like a light, and nothing happened while he slept. He didn't shift, either.


	6. Always Be Family

**Here it is. The last chapter. I've enjoyed posting this story because of the insane number of views it gets! Thanks so much for the favorites and follows! I'm a bit sad it's over! But I've just finished another fic of child Luffy only it's not involving the Whitebeards, it's involving Katakuri and the Big Mom Pirates. **

**I hope you enjoyed this story! Onward to the end! Enjoy~**

What followed was the most distressing day Thatch had ever had.

It already began on a bad note when Luffy couldn't speak. He was in his normal child form, but no matter how Thatch spoke to him or tried to get him to talk back, Luffy would not speak. Thatch was worried something was wrong with his brain, but other than not talking he seemed fine. Thatch would have liked to believe it was nothing, and that Luffy was just being silly. But then it got worse and Thatch could guess what was happening.

When Luffy got off his bed to dress for breakfast, he fell on all fours.

"Luffy? You okay…?" Thatch asked. Luffy looked up at him with a confused and innocent expression. Like he didn't notice that he was crawling instead of walking. Thatch picked him up and straightened him to walk upright many times, but each time, Luffy stood up for a few seconds before falling to his hands and knees again.

Thatch didn't want to acknowledge it, but he knew something was wrong with Luffy's brain. The way he was acting was how he acted in his monster form. Not only was his body becoming mixed up, but his brain functions, too. They needed help and they needed it _now. _

The rest of that day made Thatch feel like he was growing gray hair by the second. Except when he cooked, Thatch held Luffy the entire day. Instead of Luffy attempting to "walk", his daddy carried him. He hated how quiet Luffy was being, even if he looked happy. Luffy smiled like he usually did, and he looked less sick than he had the night before.

Thatch paid little attention to anyone else as he made sure to keep Luffy with him and acting as normal as possible with the others. But Whitebeard pulled him aside after a meal after Thatch held Luffy to his hip with one arm and attempted to wash a plate with the other.

"Son, talk to me. What is the problem?" the captain asked very seriously.

"W- We need answers now. We have to get to the island, _now._ I- I don't know what to do. I don't know…" Thatch said, in extreme distress. He seemed like he was actually about to cry, and Whitebeard felt for him.

"What is it?" he asked patiently again. Luffy looked at Thatch with a worried expression, but did not utter a sound.

"There's something wrong with Luffy's brain," Thatch whispered so the boy in his arms couldn't hear him.

"What happened?" Whitebeard asked, dead serious with a tense but calming expression on his face. Thatch was shaking, so his father put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Last night, when he was sleeping, he half changed. Started screaming after waking up with two extra legs coming out of his side. And now he won't speak or walk normal. He's crawling. And no matter how many times I stand him up, he just drops down to his knees. I think he's becoming mixed up in the head and body. I'm scared, Pops," Thatch whispered.

"We are almost to the island. I will have everyone search separately. Can you draw a picture of Luffy and his other form? You've always been good at drawing. We can use them as wanted posters and ask people if they've seen anything like that. We will figure it out, son. I promise."

Thatch nodded his head nervously, before turning his attention back to Luffy, who had started to quietly cry at his daddy's scared expression. But he couldn't say anything. Make no noise, so he just awkwardly hugged him around the neck.

"It's okay. We're okay, Luffy," Thatch said calmly, hiding his fear very well.

Thatch brought Luffy to their bedroom and laid him on the bed, where the boy flopped onto his side and napped. Thatch drew as best as he could Luffy in human and beast form. He wished Luffy could change then so he had more to work with, to draw more accurately. All the locations of his blunt spikes. But he didn't have that, so he drew as best to his ability.

He made dozens of copies of his first drawings, and as the ship docked, distributed them to as many people as he could.

It was mid day as the crew quickly dispersed, determined to find answers. Ask _everyone, _no matter how strange the questions would be.

"Ma'am, do you recognize this?" Thatch asked as he held Luffy in one arm. The woman looked at him strangely, and walked away. Obviously she did not recognize the drawing, and thought Thatch was crazy. It wouldn't be far from expected as he asked if people had seen a literal monster.

After hours of asking everyone he saw, Thatch had to take a break for Luffy, who had fallen asleep uncomfortably on his daddy's arm. Then he began to spasm. Thatch couldn't imagine it getting worse than it already was, and he rocked Luffy with soothing words as the little boy's shirt stretched as two more sets of legs grew out of his sides. What was most concerning was that he made no impression that he thought anything was wrong.

"You'll be okay," Thatch began to chant as he started to run from house to house, business to business, not caring if he was disrupting anything or anyone, to find help. He _needed help! _He didn't know what to do!

It was the end of the line as Thatch ran down the last neighborhood he himself hadn't seen. He'd ignored his brothers as they told him that there had been no one with an answer at that part. But he went everywhere himself while Luffy clinged to Thatch's chest with human arms legs and four monster legs in between. At least the boy wasn't distressed himself.

No one answered three of the little houses, and by the third one, he knocked so hard on the door that the wood splintered. He was losing control, too, as his panic built.

"Who-?!" a woman with long black hair began as she opened her splintered door. But before she could ask anything, Thatch shouted "I need help!" and gestured to an abnormal form of Luffy. "I don't know what to do!"

"Come in, come in," the woman said, immediately forgetting that this man had ruined her front door. She hurried to close what was left of the door and lead the distressed man to the couch. He set Luffy down on his stomach, where he laid there, all legs, human and beast, spread out flatly. He made no sound or noise other than to look in front of him at the fireplace. It had gotten late since everyone had fled the ship for answers. It felt like only a minute ago, but Thatch had been searching for over five hours, and Luffy had been silent the whole time. He was interested with all of the things he was seeing, but didnt get to focus on one too long before daddy turned and ran somewhere else.

"Where is his family?" the woman asked quickly.

"What do you mean?" Thatch questioned, not even asking the woman her name. Luffy rolled onto his back and looked at the ceiling in interest. Everything was different here. A change in scenery was nice.

"Where is his birth family. You don't look like a shifter. Where are his parents?" the woman, Robin as she introduced herself, asked patiently. Usually, she would be livid with someone who separated a shifter family, but this man clearly had no idea what was happening with what she assumed was his adopted son.

"Shifter? I- I don't know where his parents are. He had a grandfather on a navy ship. Monkey D. Garp," Thatch said quickly, petting Luffy's hair as he stared around, his legs all moving around leisurely.

"A navy ship?" Robin asked sharply, glowering when Thatch nodded. "That man, Monkey D. Garp, is in no way this child's grandfather. No shifter would be on a marine ship unless they were a prisoner.

"What is his name?" she asked, angry but trying to soothe the man who was still panicking.

"Luffy. He's Luffy. Can you help him? Please?" Thatch pleaded. Luffy rolled back over and clumsily attempted to walk forward, only that his human body parts knew to walk bipedally, while his other four legs wanted to walk quadrupedally. So he just fell on the comfy couch with a huff.

"Well, he needs to find his birth family. I know that much," Robin replied, running her hand through Luffy's fluffy black hair. Thatch looked at her in bright hope. Did she know about Luffy? What he was? What was happening to him now?

"What do you know about him? You don't seem like you are surprised at him looking like this. Do you know what he is?" Thatch asked eagerly. Would he finally get the answers he'd been wanting since the first night he'd found out about Luffy's differences? Robin took his hand and gave him a soft, reassuring smile.

"This boy - Luffy - is a shifter. Like werewolves, only Luffy is not a wolf, he is a _behir_. And if he's acting like this, then he's been away from his family for too long. His real family. You can only save him by finding his real family.

"Every shifter child needs to learn how to function by its family, preferably parents. The parents will teach their baby how to control shifting, and nurture both versions until he is truly one. This should have happened months ago looking at how old he is.

"If he doesn't learn how to control his shifts, then he will forever be in between, like he is now, and will never lead a normal life," Robin explained gently. "You have to find his family. I think I can help you. And I will. But, you need to know, once he finds his family, he has to be with them. Or he will not be able to live any sort of functioning life.

"I don't want to scare you, but if a baby shifter goes too long without his family, his brain and body will fail. You have to give him up. I'm so sorry, but it's for the best. For him, it is for the best. And he is young enough to bounce back and accept his birth family. That is inevitable if you want him to be able to function.

"I'm truly sorry," Robin finished empathetically. She could tell this man truly cared about the little boy he was panicking over. She also knew, by that look of resolve and resignation, that he would do as she advised.

Thatch definitely didn't want to leave Luffy, but if it was being together with Luffy as his body and brain deteriorate or leaving him behind to live with his real family, he'd take the second option without a second thought. He rubbed Luffy's fluffy hair in sadness and fondness. He'd do right by Luffy. And he wouldn't be selfish and keep Luffy when it was clearly better for him to go with someone besides him.

He had enjoyed his short time as a father, and maybe some time in the future he could be one again. A normal kid hopefully, so he didn't have to go through the pain he was going through now ever again.

"Alright. Where are they?" Thatch asked. Robin smiled sadly at him before she hurried across the room to the wall of books she had. She pulled out a leather binder and searched through the thick pages quickly as she walked back.

"I know there are multiple families on the next island that are shifters. One of them, their baby died. I asked what happened, but they wouldn't give any details. Based, on Luffy age and his species, they might be the answer. You have to hurry, though. I'd give Luffy two weeks before he's passed the point of no return."

"Who are you? How do you know all of this?" Thatch asked curiously. He'd never even heard of "shifter" and neither had Pops, or he would have said something. Thatch didn't even believe in werewolves. And he'd never heard of a "behir".

"I'm just an archaeologist who has lead an interesting life. That's all," Robin said with a mysterious smile. "You better hurry. Good luck, I wish you the best. His most likely family owns a pub in the smallest town on the next island. Foosha village. Check there first," the woman said, ushering them out of the front door, not at all angry with how damaged it was.

Thatch ran with a sleeping Luffy back to the ship, grabbing crew members as he hurried back to the docks. He knew what to do, and now he just needed to do it. He kept his sadness of leaving Luffy behind his hope of saving him. He had time to be sad later. Right now he had to focus on what was good for Luffy.

And that was for him to leave Thatch.

Once everyone was back on the ship, they set sail, night time or not. But if the island was only two days away, then by what Robin had said, they still had over a week. But, though Robin seemed like a knowing woman, no one can truly predict the future.

Thatch sat on deck with Luffy as they ate ice cream, their last sunrise together. Luffy slurred out attempted words of wonder about the beautiful sky and the bright waters of the island they were nearing. Thatch spoon fed Luffy, whose body had become so unresponsive and withdrawn that he could only jibber jabber like a baby and couldn't move anything but his head. But he still looked at Thatch with love and happiness when the man would play with him or bathe him or read to him.

The two added sets of legs had not left for the four days since Thatch met Robin. The weather had been against them, and when a marine ship tried to bother them, the pirates showed no mercy or hesitation to burn it to ashes, uncaring about anyone on board. They were in the way of saving their littlest crew member's life, and there was nothing they wouldn't do for him.

Whitebeard had asked his family to let Thatch just be with Luffy. Not to cook or fight or do anything else. That could be done after Thatch said goodbye. For now, he got to spend every moment with his short time, adopted son.

"It's a big day, Luffy. We're gonna find your mommy and daddy. And maybe brother or sister!" Thatch said positively. Luffy didn't seem to understand what Thatch meant when he talked about being separated from Luffy. The boy just didn't grasp the concept of goodbye or parting ways. He hadnt given much thought to his "grandpa" since the day he hid in the apple barrel. Hell, Luffy could forget all about the Whitebeard pirates or think of it as a dream once he grew older.

Luffy smiled at Thatch as he talked about a new family Luffy would have. Thatch made it sound fun. And hopefully he'd be able to move around again! That would be nice.

All of Luffy's belongings were gathered in a little bag hanging off of Thatch's arm that was holding Luffy against his chest. The little boy had fallen asleep against his daddy's broad chest, and didn't wake up until they were nearing a loud part of town. There seemed to be many ships docked, but none looked hostile or violent.

There was only one pub at the little island their destination was, and as Thatch and Luffy grew closer, the man's eyes began to water. But he wouldn't cry in front of Luffy and scare him. He wanted to make the passing as smoothly as possible, and alerting Luffy that Thatch was upset wouldn't be the best way to say goodbye.

Laughter and music came from the bar, and it made Luffy excited. They were fun noises! He looked around as best as he could while cradled in a blanket in daddy's arms so not to show anyone Luffy's very abnormal body.

The bar was called "The Party Bar". Marco had gone before Thatch to find out if Luffy's family was there. And the story of what Robin said was true.

The woman had politely declined Marco to talk about it. Her baby's kidnapping was not a subject she liked to visit. It had been very hard for her, her son, and her husband, for they knew that Luffy would die soon on his own somewhere in the world away from them.

Marco had insisted that he might have found her boy, but her husband swiftly kicked him out for making his wife cry. It was hard enough already for them without pirates getting their hopes up.

When he had come back to Thatch about what happened, Thatch was positive that they'd found Luffy's birth family. And right on time as well.

Thatch carried the small bundle in his arms and looked around for the owner. She looked like Luffy. That had to be her. They had the same hair and eyes. And he looked to the board near the door with a faded MISSING poster on it, with the smiling face of a younger Luffy. There was no reward of course, since it was home made.

"Miss?" Thatch asked the woman. "I think I have something for you," Thatch said gently as the barmaid dried her hands and looked at him curiously.

"Yes?" she asked. Thatch swallowed thickly and lifted the blanket off of half-shifted Luffy and handed him to her. Suddenly, before she took her baby into her arms, she fell to her knees and began to sob before she could even touch him. She was sure he wasn't real. It was just another nightmare where her little baby had come back, only to wake up to that missing poster that she thought about taking down.

"Makino?!" a red haired man called, coming out from a room attached to the bar. He stopped in his tracks and looked at Thatch and who he was carrying. Luffy's big eyes looked at his real father in curiosity. "Lu- Luffy?" he gasped.

Next came running a blond boy with curly hair, who ran to his mother to ask what was wrong. None of them had taken Luffy into their arms yet. "Luffy, look. This is your new family," Thatch said kindly, before kissing him on the forehead and gingerly handing him to the red haired man. He took Luffy into his arms and looked at his bright eyes.

Makino had finally gotten her bearings and stood up, now holding her missing boy, who was clearly about to pass past no return. They got him there just in time. Makino adjusted Luffy in her arms, running her fingers smoothly over his tan and purple skin. "Hello, Luffy," she said softly. "Do you know who I am?" As he spoke and Luffy watched her, his face seemed to go blank.

"Mm?" Luffy asked. He knew this nice lady... He didn't remember ever meeting her, but she was very familiar and made him feel good.

"Good boy. My name is mommy. I'm your mommy, and this is your daddy," she spoke softly. Sabo was crying next to her as he introduced himself as well.

It was like magic as Thatch watched Luffy's face relax, like he was so distracted by some internal thought. The man sighed in relief as Luffy's extra appendages shrunk and disappeared.

"Do you feel better now?" Makino asked. Luffy nodded his head, finally able to move some part of him more easily. He felt stiff still, after not being able to move for awhile. "You are our baby boy. You're finally home. And you'll be here for good. No bad men taking you away from us. Not again." Luffy liked this lady's voice. It made him feel buttery and wanting to melt, only it was a good feeling instead of the limp and useless way his body had been feeling for the last couple of days.

Thatch set Luffy's toys and stuffed animal on the bar table. Shanks, Luffy's real daddy, had cleared the pub quickly, not even needing to move or say anything. He just gave off a feeling to them that made them feel the desire to leave and not come back for awhile. Shanks shook Thatch's hand, thanking him from the bottom of his heart for bringing their baby boy back to them. Thatch smiled at Luffy being reunited with his family, and turned to leave.

He and his family would always remember the fun and interesting times they'd had with the very unique little boy. Thatch was sad for a couple days, but it dimmed a bit when he thought about how he had helped save Luffy's life. If they hadnt docked that day, if Luffy hadnt hidden in that barrel, if Thatch had brought him back to "grandpa", then Luffy would have perished.

It made him happy enough to know he saved him, despite his stay being brief and their time together short.

After Luffy had gone, the crew still searched for the traitor, and did find him not long after the little boy was no longer with them. Though Thatch wasn't usually a violent person, there was nothing stopping him from beating the traitor to a pulp and then throwing him in the ocean to drown. Now, Luffy would never be in danger from him again. That was why they were still searching for the fat man after all. Thatch would do everything he could to help Luffy live a peaceful life as he could from afar.

Luffy would one day meet Thatch again, but as a powerful pirate captain with a mastered devil fruit, looking to be the next Pirate King. Luffy didn't recognize Thatch, but the Whitebeards had somehow turned what would have been a battle into a party.

Thatch and his brothers even told Luffy how they knew him, which Luffy was in awe at. His crew knew about his powers, but they were shocked to hear about the story behind it, as was their captain.

Thatch would always be Luffy's first daddy. And that was enough.

~The End~

**If anyone regularly reads all of my stories, you gotta know I had to throw in some angst and drama. And a reunion like in all of my fics. (predicable) I hope you enjoyed the story. Again, thanks for the views and follows and favorites.**


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